Reframing the debt crisis in defence of social democracy

This article contributes to the analysis of counter-discourses on austerity concerning the European debt crisis of the 2010s. Though numerous studies have considered anti-austerity movements, this original article is based upon a frame analysis of citizen debt audit groups in France, Spain, and Belgium, which were part of the anti-austerity mobilisations but have mostly been ignored in the relevant scholarship. I explore the political imaginary of activists, firstly showing how they define the problematic situation of the debt crisis, signaling the responsibility of public authorities, especially local actors. Secondly, I highlight their imaginary of the role to be followed by the state in such crisis management. They advocate for the redeployment of the social state in the context of the economic crisis. However, this demand for a social state is not unconditional but underpinned by a sincere desire to grant citizens oversight of the social mission of public authorities. Therefore, I refer to the concept of social democracy. As my contribution is comparative, exploring this political imaginary of the democratic state’s role varies according to national and local political contexts.