https://toarcheio.org To Archeio project site Thu, 30 Apr 2020 12:38:49 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 https://toarcheio.org/items/reinventing-traditions-socially-produced-goods-in-eastern-crete-during-economic-crisis/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:52 +0000 http://arc.local/items/reinventing-traditions-socially-produced-goods-in-eastern-crete-during-economic-crisis/ Continued]]> This paper is about the way the newly issued framework for social economy creates the preconditions of social cooperation in the ethnographic context of Sitia region in eastern Crete. It is argued that local agents based on their empirical knowledge for making ends meet create or enter local social networks treating them as paths of provisioning and as generators of tangible outcomes in the form of economic capital. These networks are mediated by a set of material transactions which in their turn are sustained and reproduced by the logic of generalized reciprocity as a form of exchange. We argue that local agents by taking advantage of the social economy framework, by producing goods and by using local social relations form a whole which is formed and reformed when they transact with each other in commodity production aiming at making their lives possible. The data is based on ongoing ethnographic fieldwork in the region of eastern Crete.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/emerging-geographies-of-mobility-the-role-of-regional-towns-in-greeces-counterurbanisation-story/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:48 +0000 http://arc.local/items/emerging-geographies-of-mobility-the-role-of-regional-towns-in-greeces-counterurbanisation-story/ Continued]]> Drawing on the ‘mobility turn’, research in rural studies has engaged with new explorations of mobilities, beyond the now well-explored counterurbanisation and rural gentrification processes, including local and temporary mobility in diverse socio-economic and cultural contexts. This paper explores past and potential future mobility patterns in two regional towns in non-metropolitan Greece in the context of the ongoing financial crisis. Using a choice experiment, we assess the importance of settlement types, family networks, previous residency in the area, cultural opportunities and change in employment type in informing future mobility decisions. The analysis finds evidence of diverse mobilities, and distinguishes between two predominant mobility groups, i.e. counterurbanisers and local movers. We further look at relocation preferences for the two groups and find similar preferences for regional towns. In this context, we provide evidence for the potential emergence of an alternative, i.e. not rooted in pastoralism, version of the Anglo-American ‘rural idyll’.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/aspects-and-experiences-of-crisis-in-rural-greece-narratives-of-rural-resilience/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:46 +0000 http://arc.local/items/aspects-and-experiences-of-crisis-in-rural-greece-narratives-of-rural-resilience/ Continued]]> The purpose of this paper is to explore aspects, dynamics and experiences of the crisis in the Greek countryside. The ‘rural’ is emerging in public discourse as a resilient milieu of solidarity, of social innovation, and of opportunities for employment, especially in farming and in rural entrepreneurship. It seems that the crisis has contributed to triggering social constructions of ‘idyllic rurality’ which generated counterurbanisation tendencies and expectations for urbanites to return back to the land. However, those who had remained in rural areas and in farming were already been confronted with the prolonged crisis of the agricultural sector (CAP reforms and market liberalization), now coupled with the severe impact of the recent economic and financial crisis in Greece. Drawing on narratives of farmers and incomers in two rural areas, the paper investigates experiences and strategies to deal with the crisis, in the framework of work and family and in the context of discourses on rural resilience. Personal accounts reveal that remaining or returning to rural areas often conceal cases of underemployment and social deprivation and that, both farmers and incomers are not explicitly supported by policy makers.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/leaving-athens-narratives-of-counterurbanisation-in-times-of-crisis/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:18 +0000 http://arc.local/items/leaving-athens-narratives-of-counterurbanisation-in-times-of-crisis/ Continued]]> The purpose of this paper is to explore counterurbanisation in times of crisis. While much of the Anglophone literature highlights the consumption of the rural through counterurbanisation as part of a complex mosaic consisting of pro-rural lifestyle choices, class aspirations and ageing processes, the current economic recession that western countries are experiencing might reveal new ways of conceptualising counterurbanisation. The paper draws on in-depth interviews with counter-urban migrants in Greece. The interviews highlight a ‘crisis counterurbanisation’ triggered largely by unemployment at origin, rather than pro-rural motivations and idyllic constructions of rurality. More importantly, the migrants’ stories highlight the importance of the extended family in counter-urban movements, in terms of the location of destination and the multiple support offered. This supportive family structure is pronounced in Greece, especially in times of crisis, but can be expected to be comparable to other southern European contexts where the role of family replaces responsibilities of the welfare state.

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