Austerity and Law in Europe presents an interdisciplinary collection of essays that challenge traditional narratives of austerity. The contributions recast austerity as a historically contingent political rationality that operates through law and technocracy. * A collection of essays that tackles the relationship between austerity and law within and outside the European Union * Draws on a set of interdisciplinary contributions, incorporating insights from European law, economic history, legal theory, and economics * Reveals how austerity measures in Europe were not implemented as an outcome of legal or economic necessity, but were a political choice * Presents austerity as a historically contingent political rationality which gained a legal endorsement in the EU law and policy without foreclosing the possibilities for contestation either through law or politics