Introduction: Austerity across Europe: lived experiences of economic crises

With this introductory chapter we explore the multitude of ways in which austerity and economic crises are experienced in everyday life across Europe. The aim of the collection is to connect and place into conversation emerging, cutting-edge social science research evidencing everyday experiences of austerity and crisis across diverse European contexts. With a pan-European perspective, the collection explores the geographically differentiated, regionally distinctive and personally provoking nature of these experiences via case studies from different states, regions, localities, cities and communities. In doing so, we aim to offer key thinking and evidence of the multi-scalar nature of personal, local and family experiences of austerity and crisis, and so too the relational impact of austerity and crisis on lived experiences. We also provide a summary of the contributions within the collection and the themes by which they are arranged.