Political Catchphrases and Contemporary History: A Critique of New Normals

By: Suman Gupta

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Synopsis: Political Catchphrases and Contemporary History presents an historical account of the period 2001-2020 by focusing on the shifting connotations of certain political catchphrases and words. These allow for a linked-up narrative covering areas such as politics and policy, business and investing, austerity and inequality, identity, climate change, crowd protests, flexible working, and online education. Key junctures are 9/11, the 2002 dot-com crash and the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the Occupy movements of 2011-2012, China's economic policy from 2014 onwards, and the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. Half the book is devoted to the unusually pervasive usage of the catchphrase 'new normal'. Chapters are also given to 'we are the 99%' and the catchwords 'austerity' and 'resilience'. Case studies of these catchphrases and words occupy much of the book. The final chapter makes conceptual inferences and proposes both a theory of political catchphrases and a distinctive approach to contemporary history. The source materials are predominantly from the UK and USA, but refer, naturally, to issues of global moment.