scholarly journals Resilience, Agency and Coping with Hardship: Evidence from Europe during the Great Recession

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (03) ◽  
pp. 547-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
HULYA DAGDEVIREN ◽  
MATTHEW DONOGHUE
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
Coping Mechanisms ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Different Types ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Household Responses

AbstractThis paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on resilience by focusing on coping with hardship during the Great Recession, drawing upon primary data gathered through household and key informant interviews in nine European countries. As the resilience approach highlights agency, the paper examines the nature of household responses to hardship during this period on the basis of the ‘structure-agency problem’. An important contribution of this paper is to identify different forms of agency and discuss their implications. More specifically, we conceptualise three different types of agency in coping with hardship: absorptive, adaptive and transformative. Analysis of the findings indicates that structural constraints remain prominent. Most coping mechanisms fall under the category of absorptive and adaptive agency characterised here as burden-bearing actions that ‘conform’ to changing circumstances rather than shaping those circumstances.

Risk and coping mechanisms of the carp spawn fishing community of the Halda river, Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-96
Author(s):  
Aysha Akhtar ◽  
Md Tarikul Islam ◽  
Md Shafiqul Islam ◽  
Muhammad Moznu Mia ◽  
Md Simul Bhuyan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Driving Forces ◽  
Coping Mechanisms ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Salinity Intrusion ◽  
Fishing Community ◽  
Weather Variables ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
River Bends ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Brood Fish

To assess the livelihood risks and coping mechanisms of the spawn fishing community of the Halda river, Chittagong, Bangladesh was conducted. Four areas, namely Ankurighona, Gorduara, Madarimukh and Madunaghat were selected on the basis of the aggregation of spawn fishers. A structured questionnaire survey was made on 152 spawn fishers in two categories i.e. boat owner and hired laborers to collect primary data. Three major man-made risks, namely catch of brood fish, non-functioning sluice gates and cutting of river bends related to egg collection were mentioned by the spawn fishers while salinity intrusion, river erosion and fluctuation in weather variables were found as the main natural risks. Willingness to continue egg collection despite the risks was disagreed by most of the respondents while those who were found to continue egg collection mentioned their driving forces as high profit, tradition and hobby. The respondents expressed that they cannot take any measures to mitigate the risks of salinity intrusion, weather fluctuation, mortality of spawn, non-functioning sluice gates, cutting of river bends and political influences. However, informing police and raising awareness to stop illegal catch of brood, construction of proper sluice gates, stop further cutting of river bends and rehabilitation of erosion victims were mentioned as probable solutions.Bangladesh J. Zool. 45(1): 85-96, 2017

Returning to the parental home after the Great Recession: a matter of partnership dissolution or unemployment?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Mazzotta ◽  
Lavinia Parisi
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Parental Home ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Returning Home ◽  
Two Peaks

Abstract This article provides an analysis of the return of young people to the parental home in 23 European countries. It analyses the effect of the Great Recession, considering the period between 2006 and 2014 and controlling for two key determinants of living arrangements: employment and partnership. The main finding is that the Great Recession has increased the probability of returning home: two peaks are observed in 2009 and 2011, with a percentage of returnees almost double that at the beginning of the period under consideration. Returning home seems more closely linked to partnership than to employment.

scholarly journals The Well-Being Gap during the Great Recession: The Role of Growth and Institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Marco Ciziceno ◽  
Pietro Pizzuto
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
The Great Recession

The purpose of this paper is to examine the well-being dynamics across European countries during the Great Recession and to investigate the potential role of the quality of formal institutions in mitigating the negative effect of the economic downturn. This study uses the club convergence methodology by Phillips and Sul (2007; 2009) to group EU-28 countries that present similar features in terms of well-being during the period 2005-2017. The study also applies probit models to investigate the potential role of several social and institutional characteristics that are supposed to affect subjective well-being levels. The results show the existence of a “well-being gap” among European countries. The economic downturn started in 2008 has impacted the perceived well-being more in low-income and low-growth countries (less developed transition and Southern countries), than in high-income and more developed transition countries. The study also shows that countries that present well-functioning institutional systems and, more in general, good institutional performances show higher life satisfaction levels and tend to be more resilient to the negative effects generated by the economic shock.

scholarly journals A fuzzy set approach to economic crisis, austerity and public health. Part I. European countries’ conformity to ideal types during the economic downturn

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 41-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese Saltkjel ◽  
Mari Holm Ingelsrud ◽  
Espen Dahl ◽  
Knut Halvorsen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Fuzzy Set ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Current Economic Crisis ◽  
Welfare Generosity

Aims: This is the first part of a two-part paper that takes an explorative approach to assess crisis and austerity in European countries during the Great Recession. The ultimate aim of this two-part paper is to explore the “crisis–austerity” thesis by Stuckler and Basu and assess whether it is the interplay between austerity and crisis, rather than the current economic crisis per se, that can led to deterioration in population health. In Part I of this paper we offer one way of operationalizing crisis severity and austerity. We examine countries as specific configurations of crisis and policy responses and classify European countries into “ideal types.” Methods: Cases included were 29 countries participating in the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) surveys. Based on fuzzy set methodology, we constructed two fuzzy sets, “austerity” and “severe crisis.” Austerity was measured by changes in welfare generosity; severe crisis was measured by changes in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth. Results: In the initial phase of the Great Recession, most countries faced severe crisis combined with no austerity. From 2010–2011 onward, there was a divide between countries. Some countries consistently showed signs of austerity policies (with or without severe crisis); others consistently did not. Conclusions: The fuzzy set ideal-type analysis shows that the European countries position themselves, by and large, in configurations of crisis and austerity in meaningful ways that allow us to explore the “crisis–austerity” thesis by Stuckler and Basu. This exploration is the undertaking of Part II of this paper.

scholarly journals Legitimacy and the Paradox of Technocratic Government in Newer European Democracies: The Fischer Administration in the Czech Republic Revisited

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seán Hanley
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eurozone Crisis ◽  
Weak Basis ◽  
Academic Interest ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Mass Publics

The creation of technocratic caretaker governments in several European countries in the wake of the Great Recession (2008–2009) and the Eurozone crisis led to renewed academic interest in such administrations. Although such governments are often assumed to be illegitimate and democratically dysfunctional, there has been little empirical consideration of if and how they legitimate themselves to mass publics. This question is particularly acute given that, empirically, caretaker technocrat-led administrations have been clustered in newer, more crisis-prone democracies in Southern and Eastern Europe where high levels of state exploitation by parties suggest a weak basis for any government claiming technocratic impartiality. This article uses Michael Saward’s “representative claims” framework to re-examine the case of one of Europe’s longer-lasting and most popular technocratic administrations, the 2009–2010 Fischer government in the Czech Republic. The article maps representative claims made for Fischer and his government, as well as counterclaims. Claims drew on the electoral mandate of sponsoring parties, the government’s claimed technocratic neutrality, and on Fischer’s “mirroring” of the values and lifestyle of ordinary Czechs (echoing some populist framings of politics). The article argues that the Fischer government benefited from multiple overlapping representative claims, but notes the need for robust methodology to assess the reception claims by their intended constituency. It concludes by considering the implications of actors’ ability to combine populist and technocratic claims, noting similarities in technocratic governments and some types of anti-establishment party.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document