Repoliticising depoliticisation: theoretical preliminaries on some responses to the American fiscal and Eurozone debt crises

Abstract

Politicisation, depoliticisation, and repoliticisation are basic and interrelated concepts in political analysis. They may also describe specific political strategies in relatively stable, turbulent or crisisprone periods or concrete conjunctures. This article aims to clarify the chameleon-like concept of depoliticisation by distinguishing its different levels and forms. It also applies these distinctions to two cases of ‘depoliticisation’ in the fiscal politics of the North Atlantic Financial Crisis (NAFC). The magnitude, duration, and depth of this crisis have prompted an intriguing mix of de- and repoliticisation strategies. These are evident in the manufactured hysteria about the ‘fiscal cliff’ in the USA and the attempts to impose technocratic government and a new economic constitution in the Eurozone. The conclusion offers some general reflections.