Inequality in the 21st Century

The London School of Economics & Political Science

London, UK

July 02 - 04, 2015

tenets. Alternatives based on fiscal stimulus are apparently not an option for international institutions 

and national governments. However, in response to previous recessions in the last quarter of the

twentieth century, governments of emerging economies have successfully relied on deficit spending,

and have been seemingly more concerned with socially inclusive models of growth.

The papers in the panel analyze different models of state intervention in response to major
financial crises, in historical perspective, and in advanced and emerging economies. 
Longitudinal and cross-national analysis will allow to examine the role of ideational and discursive
frameworks, interest politics, and extant models of economic governance in influencing different
response to major economic downturns. 
In examining the conditions that have steered divergent approaches, and systemic successes and 

failures in state intervention responding to global crises, the session will explore an overlooked 

dimension of governance, namely the state of legitimacy in the aftermath of austerity.

The findings will contribute to advance long-standing and still unresolved analytical controversies 

between structuralist explanations and constructivist approaches to the politics of adjustment and 

its socio-economic effects.