Mid Sweden University

So far, the Euro crisis has been analysed using the ‘varieties of capitalism’ concept, the growthmodel framework or ideational accounts. These approaches have generally been applied in isola-tion or in opposition to one another. There has been little cross-fertilization, due to the differentepistemological points of departure that emphasize either institutional rational efciency, materialdriving forces or ideational motives for the political economies during the crisis. This article in-stead applies the concept of cultural political economy to today’s socioeconomic tensions betweennorthern and southern member states. Cultural political economy offers a historical evolutionaryperspective showing how institutional, material and ideational motivations have co-evolved in Eu-ropean member states since the 1950s, contributing to the discrepancies that we witness today be-tween the northern and southern EU countries. The article exemplies the cultural politicaleconomy approach against the background of the German–Italian irritations that have sparkedthrough the crisis.