Political Catchphrases and Contemporary History

<em>Political Catchphrases and Contemporary History</em> 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.