Introduction

'Crisis', whether as a condition of instability or danger, or as a point of change or upheaval, provides a starting point from which our contributors develop their explorations of memory and recovery. Crisis is felt, lived, shared and imagined in very different ways. It is a term, much like memory and recovery, with contradictory and often ambiguous definitions and interpretations. It assumes many different forms and exists at different levels of society and the nation-state. A concern with the relationship between crisis and ethics, and more generally in an exploratory way, the moral and social well-being of individuals who experience crisis, is an important subtext running through this work. As a potent, even hegemonic myth, austerity harnesses myriad tropes, images and narratives that reanimate more conventional readings of both economic and environmental crisis. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.