When the economic crisis of 2008 hit, communities around the world took to the streets, inspired by the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, to protest the social inequality of the recession. But Latvia, the second-hardest-hit country, was tranquil. Social policies put the responsibility on the unemployed individual, implying that they were at fault for their suffering. Dr. Liene Ozoliņa considers how social policies can bolster or break social connections.

Liene Ozoliņa is a political sociologist who has written on post-socialist democratisation, neoliberalism, and politics of time. She holds a PhD in sociology from the London School of Economics, where she currently teaches sociology, and has also studied social theory at the University of Amsterdam and sociology and humanities at the Latvian Academy of Culture. Liene recently published her first book, “Politics of Waiting: Workfare, Post-Soviet Austerity, and Ethics of Freedom,” which examines the austerity regime that followed the 2008 global economic crisis. The book offers a sociological critique of the Latvian “success story”.

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