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