After the onset of the economic crisis in Greece, owing to the government’s drive
towards fiscal consolidation, social protection became sparse. NGOs active in social
solidarity started catering to newly impoverished Greek citizens seeking social
services and basic consumer goods. In parallel, informal social networks and selfhelp
groups emerged and became active in exchange and distribution of goods and
services, healthcare, education, food and shelter provision, offering a more critical
view towards the state and seeking alternative forms of social organization. Field
research and interviews with representatives of NGOs and informal organizations,
conducted in 2013 in Athens, show that social solidarity has expanded,
organizations have developed and have adapted to the new social needs of the
population. The Greek welfare state has partly been supplanted by social solidarity
groups, but the crisis may have become a catalyst for the empowerment of the
erstwhile weak Greek civil society