Crisis, Austerity and its Impact on Education in Europe and Greece

Abstract

This critical review identifies and reviews relevant literature and theoretical insights in the areas of social crisis and its relation to and impact on education. The critical review is organised into two parts. In the first part, it begins with the conceptualisation of crisis. It briefly discusses what the term ‘crisis’ suggests, and continues by considering a crisis as an opportunity for the opening of a 'policy window'. It then moves on to discuss the crisis of 2008 in more detail. In the second part, it focuses on the impact of the crisis of 2008 on education in Europe and mostly in Greece. Finally, it concludes with some thoughts on the role of education in the current historical, political and social era in which we live.