anthropology – To Archeio https://toarcheio.org To Archeio project site Mon, 20 Apr 2020 15:19:00 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 Agency on the Streets: Crisis, Radical Politics and the Production of Public Space in Athens 2008–2012 https://toarcheio.org/items/agency-on-the-streets-crisis-radical-politics-and-the-production-of-public-space-in-athens-2008-2012/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:18 +0000 http://arc.local/items/agency-on-the-streets-crisis-radical-politics-and-the-production-of-public-space-in-athens-2008-2012/ Continued]]> The dynamic of the street in political struggles is not to be found merely in the fact that it is the space for visibility and representation, but also in that it is the space where potential emancipatory action and non-mediated modes of social conduct can play out. This paper will examine this notion of the street in the context of events of unrest and crisis in Athens from 2008 until 2012. The paper argues that the irregular changes of social, economic and political features in the city during that period transformed public space from primarily a ‘space for representation’ and a ‘space of representation’ to the site/space allowing the subversion of social relations in times of crisis.

]]> Beyond spontaneity: crisis, violence and collective action in Athens https://toarcheio.org/items/beyond-spontaneity-crisis-violence-and-collective-action-in-athens/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:12 +0000 http://arc.local/items/beyond-spontaneity-crisis-violence-and-collective-action-in-athens/ Continued]]> This article argues for the analytical potentials of the concept of spontaneity in our effort to understand critically the socio-spatial dynamics of Athens, but especially the contemporary collective protest actions in the city. Such critical understanding emerges as a significant task given the current urgency to grasp the capitalist crisis and the collective reactions to it. However, taking into account the re-configuration of extreme-Right violence in the streets of Athens, the article attempts to revisit the Marxist dichotomy between spontaneity and non-spontaneity. Via an anthropological critique of this distinction, the paper suggests an additional point of focus beyond spontaneity.

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