https://toarcheio.org To Archeio project site Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:26 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 https://toarcheio.org/items/reimagining-a-transnational-right-to-the-city-no-border-actions-and-commoning-practices-in-thessaloniki/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:26 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/reimagining-a-transnational-right-to-the-city-no-border-actions-and-commoning-practices-in-thessaloniki/ Continued]]> Although there is extensive literature on State migration policies and NGO activities, there are few studies on the common struggles between refugees and local activists. This article aims to fill this research gap by focusing on the impact of the transnational No Border camp that took place in Thessaloniki in 2016. The border region of northern Greece, with its capital Thessaloniki, is at the heart of the so-called refugee crisis and it is marked by a large number of solidarity initiatives. After the sealing of the “Balkan corridor”, the Greek State relocated thousands of refugees into isolated and inappropriate camps on the outskirts of Thessaloniki. Numerous local and international initiatives, with the participation of refugees from the camps, self-organized a transnational No Border camp in the city center that challenged State policies. By claiming the right to the city, activists from all over Europe, together with refugees, built direct-democratic assemblies and organized a multitude of direct actions, demonstrations, and squats that marked the city’s social body with spatial disobedience and transnational commoning practices. Here, activism emerges as an important field of research and this article aims to contribute to activists’ literature on migration studies after 2015. The article is based on militant research and inspired by the Lefebvrian right to the city, the autonomy of migration, and common space approaches. The right to the city refers to the rights to freedom, socialization, and habitation, but also to the right to reinvent and change the city. It was recently enhanced by approaches on common spaces and the way these highlight the production of spaces based on solidarity, mutual help, common care, and direct democracy. The main findings of this study point to how the struggle of migrants when crossing physical and social borders inspires local solidarity movements for global networking and opens up new possibilities to reimagine and reinvent transnational common spaces.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/i-followed-the-flood-a-gender-analysis-of-the-moral-and-financial-economies-of-forced-migration/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:53 +0000 http://arc.local/items/i-followed-the-flood-a-gender-analysis-of-the-moral-and-financial-economies-of-forced-migration/ Continued]]> What would a gender analysis of refugee crises reveal if one expanded the focus beyond female refugees, and acts of physical violence? This paper draws on qualitative research conducted in Denmark, Greece, Jordan, and Turkey in July and August 2016 to spotlight the gendered kinship, hierarchies, networks, and transactions that affect refugees. The coping strategies of groups often overlooked in the gender conversation are examined throughout this study, including those of male refugees and those making crossings outside of the context of a family unit. The analysis is theoretically situated at the intersection of critical humanitarianism and the politics of vulnerability, and rooted in debates about the feminisation of refugees and corresponding protection agendas. A key contribution of this work is the ethnographic tracing of how refugees embody these politics along their journeys. In closing, the paper sketches out some implications of the findings for humanitarian practice and identifies avenues for further research.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/dangers-of-an-urban-crisis-within-the-european-union-fueling-xenophobia-and-undermining-democracy/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:45 +0000 http://arc.local/items/dangers-of-an-urban-crisis-within-the-european-union-fueling-xenophobia-and-undermining-democracy/ Continued]]> The global economic and financial crisis of 2007-08 has further intensified a social and urban crisis that undermines democracy and economic institutions internationally. Specifically, the economic crisis and the consequent austerity measures have resulted in greater exploitation in the labor market and job discrimination, in capital flight and undermined political and social institutions that provide for citizens. Xenophobia becomes again a burgeoning problem that is plaguing the European Union (EU) and needs to be addressed thoroughly for it can again undermine the democratic tradition of the region. This article concentrates on perspectives on the current migration crisis within the region of the EU that has spurred a spiral of xenophobic tendencies and a neo-liberal nationalist narrative. Particular emphasis is placed in the situations in Greece (the much attested “guinea pig” of the democratic experiment) and Italy.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/survey-of-medico-legal-investigation-of-homicide-in-the-region-of-epirus-northwest-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:41 +0000 http://arc.local/items/survey-of-medico-legal-investigation-of-homicide-in-the-region-of-epirus-northwest-greece/ Continued]]> This study analyzed the forensic features of homicides in North-West Greece (Epirus) from 1998 to 2013, a borderland area between Greece and Albania. Although Greece is critically influenced by both the increasing flow of refugees and the current socioeconomic crisis, very little information has been published regarding the patterns of homicide in the country. Fifty-eight autopsied victims (36 males; 22 females) were investigated. The median age was 37 years old. The average annual homicide rate was 0.85 per 100,000 inhabitants and showed remarkable fluctuation, with largest increase during Greek financial downturn. Sixteen victims were not Greek citizens. The most common method of commitment was the use of firearm (40%). The main motives were economical causes (26%) and passion (14%). Four cases were categorized as matricide (7%), 3 as homicide-suicide (5%), 2 as patricide (3%) and 1 as infanticide (2%). Toxicological analysis proved negative for ethanol and other psychotropic substances in the majority of the victims (50%). There is an urgent need for public actions both in Epirus and in Greece, with the application of effective strategies against criminality.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/europes-last-frontier-the-spatialities-of-the-refugee-crisis/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:40 +0000 http://arc.local/items/europes-last-frontier-the-spatialities-of-the-refugee-crisis/ Continued]]> The Post-Cold War period has brought forth new conditions for the dominant European spatialities. First, that period signified a new condition for real estate and land ownership, second a radical transformation and increase of the built environment and third the securitization of a privileged European territory. As the European economy slows and the construction and real estate sectors are further deregulated, together with the promises that the post-Cold War period brought, what we observe coming to the surface in the context of the current refugee crisis is the manifestation of Europe’s most ugly and discriminatory spatiality—the preservation at all costs of its border security.

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