The Good Student, the Bad Student, and the Celtic Tiger: The Role of National Identity and Responses to the Troika in Europe
| dc.contributor.advisor | Parsons, Craig | |
| dc.contributor.author | O'Hare, Kevin | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-09-13T18:44:10Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2021-09-13T18:44:10Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-09-13 | |
| dc.description.abstract | In response to crises of unsustainable debt, which left Greece, Ireland, and Portugal locked out of bond markets, each country received assistance from the “Troika” (European Commission, European Central Bank, and IMF). They received loans in return for implementing austerity policies and liberal structural reforms. All three countries suffered painful cuts and massive recessions, but their citizens and leaders reacted differently. Greece experienced significant political and social resistance and ultimately needed a second program. The Irish rejected the government that requested the bailout and elected a new government that implemented the Troika program with little deviation from the original plan and exited its Troika program on time. Ireland also saw very little labor unrest, and limited protest. The Portuguese elected strong advocates of the Troika’s policies and saw an initial 16-month period with moderate levels of protest and strikes, before a more intense period ensued. Despite increased social pressure, the Portuguese government weathered a near collapse while maintaining its commitment to the Troika program and exited its Troika program on schedule. Many have argued that the prevalence of “neoliberal” ideas, institutional factors, or differences in the difficulty of the individual programs can account for these responses, but all of these explanations fall short in various ways. This dissertation argues that these responses were influenced by particular aspects of each country’s national identity, especially as each relates to the European Union. In this dissertation, I show that each country can be seen to have very different types of national identities, with the most prominent features of each identity being themselves a result of the historical context of each country. Additionally, the most prominent aspects of each country’s identity were the least contested in each society. Viewed through the lens of national identity, the responses from Greece, Ireland, and Portugal not only reproduced central elements of the content of each country’s national identity, but the identities interacted in real time, with Ireland and Portugal highlighting their differences from Greece, and Portugal actively striving to be more like Ireland. The interaction between identities further reinforced each country’s responses to their respective Troika programs. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/26686 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Oregon | |
| dc.rights | All Rights Reserved. | |
| dc.subject | Euro Crisis | en_US |
| dc.subject | European Politics | en_US |
| dc.subject | National Identity | en_US |
| dc.subject | Political Economy | en_US |
| dc.subject | Political Science | en_US |
| dc.subject | Troika | en_US |
| dc.title | The Good Student, the Bad Student, and the Celtic Tiger: The Role of National Identity and Responses to the Troika in Europe | |
| dc.type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Department of Political Science | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Oregon | |
| thesis.degree.level | doctoral | |
| thesis.degree.name | Ph.D. |
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