Routledge – To Archeio https://toarcheio.org To Archeio project site Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:42 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 Race and class in German media representations of the ‘Greek crisis’ https://toarcheio.org/items/race-and-class-in-german-media-representations-of-the-greek-crisis/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:42 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/race-and-class-in-german-media-representations-of-the-greek-crisis/ Continued]]> Research has shown that the mainstream media coverage of the EU’s economic crisis has been not only offensive and prejudiced for the people of the countries most affected by it, but most crucially, utterly relying on elite understandings of the crisis, as articulated by the political and economic establishment of the EU. Indeed, the hegemonic public framing of the Eurozone crisis followed an ‘Orientalist’ approach, through spectacular narratives stressing cultural and moral failures of ‘national characters’ and exceptional national institutions that are (supposedly) fundamentally different from the ‘European’ cannon. This way, regimes of exception were able to be publicly constructed as plausible explanations for the crisis (as a ‘self-inflicted’ problem by those not following the European norm), and equivalent exceptional policies (such as austerity regimes) to be implemented in the supposedly problematic countries. Drawing on the findings of previous research, this contribution presents the class and racist dimensions of the German mainstream media’s ‘Greek-crisis’ representations, by focusing on the ‘crisis epicenter’, Greece, a country relentlessly targeted and, slandered and shamed by the German media and the German elites in particular. The chapter concludes that both in their light and in their serious versions, the German media publicly construct the so-called Greek crisis in line with the bourgeois and post-democratic principles directing the EU.

]]> Discursive uses of ‘abnormality’ in the Greek crisis https://toarcheio.org/items/discursive-uses-of-abnormality-in-the-greek-crisis/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:08 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/discursive-uses-of-abnormality-in-the-greek-crisis/ Continued]]> In crisis-ridden Greece, a strict austerity program has been applied, from 2010 onwards—when the global and mainly European economic crisis hit the shores of the Aegean—under the supervision of the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (the so-called troika). In order to provide an adequate framing and legitimization to this program, the crisis was discursively constructed not only as an economic one but also as a moral and a cultural crisis. Within this framework, the implementation of the austerity program became increasingly associated with discourses about ‘normality.’

]]> Critical Times in Greece: Anthropological Engagements with the Crisis, https://toarcheio.org/items/critical-times-in-greece-anthropological-engagements-with-the-crisis/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:47 +0000 http://arc.local/items/critical-times-in-greece-anthropological-engagements-with-the-crisis/ Continued]]> This volume brings together new anthropological research on the Greek crisis. With a number of contributions from academics based in Greece, the book addresses a number of key issues such as the refugee crisis, far-right extremism and the psychological impact of increased poverty and unemployment. It provides much needed ethnographic contributions and critical anthropological perspectives at a key moment in Greece’s history, and will be of great interest to researchers interested in the social, political and economic developments in southern Europe. It is the first collection to explore the impact of this period of radical social change on anthropological understandings of Greece.

]]> Sociology of crisis: Visualising urban austerity https://toarcheio.org/items/sociology-of-crisis-visualising-urban-austerity/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:45 +0000 http://arc.local/items/sociology-of-crisis-visualising-urban-austerity/ Continued]]> The global financial crisis has demonstrated the impact and implications of late capitalism and its bedfellow, globalisation. In the European context, crisis is seen as a threat to the stability of the region, rather than a local or national concern. Post-2008, crisis is social and political, rather than merely financial, as Western countries witness the consequences of consumption, growth and profit.

In this book, Tsilimpounidi demonstrates how sociologists must develop new approaches to examining rapid shifts in the social landscape, since crisis is not merely reflected in balance sheets, but is mediated through spectacular imagery of loss, deprivation and increased vectors of marginalisation. Providing focused and valuable insight into the pressing problems of those living in Greece in relation to the wider spheres of the nation and at the level of the European Union, Sociology of Crisis takes an approach that is firmly located within a critical sociological appeal to reflexivity.

A timely engagement with the problem of crisis at a macro-level and in dialogue with the everyday experiences of crisis on a micro-level, this interdisciplinary title will appeal to both undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in sociology, social policy, geography, urban studies and research methods (social science).

]]> Living parallel lives: Italy and greece in an age of austerity https://toarcheio.org/items/living-parallel-lives-italy-and-greece-in-an-age-of-austerity-2/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:45 +0000 http://arc.local/items/living-parallel-lives-italy-and-greece-in-an-age-of-austerity-2/ Continued]]> The economic crisis has triggered a process of political convergence between Italy and Greece. The simultaneous downfall of the Italian and Greek governments, following the public withdrawal of European confidence in their ability to handle the crisis, was followed by the establishment of technocrat-led governments based on parliamentary ‘super-majorities’ and then by ‘protest elections’, marked by unprecedented levels of electoral volatility. By apparently ending bipolarism, the crisis has completely changed patterns of national government formation and resulted in experiments with unusual government types. Both political systems have entered a transitional phase whose outcome is anything but certain, especially in the continuing context of economic crisis.

]]> Protest elections and challenger parties: Italy and Greece in the economic crisis https://toarcheio.org/items/protest-elections-and-challenger-parties-italy-and-greece-in-the-economic-crisis/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:45 +0000 http://arc.local/items/protest-elections-and-challenger-parties-italy-and-greece-in-the-economic-crisis/ Greece in times of crisis: Shaping political identification https://toarcheio.org/items/greece-in-times-of-crisis-shaping-political-identification/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:42 +0000 http://arc.local/items/greece-in-times-of-crisis-shaping-political-identification/ Understanding the populist shift: Othering in a Europe in crisis https://toarcheio.org/items/understanding-the-populist-shift-othering-in-a-europe-in-crisis/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:42 +0000 http://arc.local/items/understanding-the-populist-shift-othering-in-a-europe-in-crisis/ Continued]]> During the European elections of 2014, one of the main issues raised by the media was the electoral performance of so called ‘populist parties’. The electorate confirmed its deep dissatisfaction with mainstream political parties, voting for far right parties in parliamentary elections in Northern Europe (Austria, Denmark, Sweden), Eastern Europe (Hungary, where the deeply anti-Semitic Jobbik party gained votes) and in France (where the French National Front won about a quarter of the vote), while in the Southern European countries, battered by austerity policies, it was the radical right and left in Greece (Golden Dawn and Syriza) and the radical left in Spain (Podemos) that obtained excellent scores.

This book examines the growing trend towards far and extreme right populism that has emerged prominently in Northern (Finland), Western (Austria, Denmark, France, the UK), Southern (Greece, Italy) and Central/Eastern Europe (Slovenia, Bulgaria) since the 1990s. Providing a critical understanding of current European trends and analysing the complex phenomena covered by the notion of populism, this book will be of interest to students and scholars researching right-wing politics, as well as European politics more generally.

]]> From the streets and the occupied squares to the central political field: The narratives of the anti-austerity camp in Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/from-the-streets-and-the-occupied-squares-to-the-central-political-field-the-narratives-of-the-anti-austerity-camp-in-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:37 +0000 http://arc.local/items/from-the-streets-and-the-occupied-squares-to-the-central-political-field-the-narratives-of-the-anti-austerity-camp-in-greece/ Continued]]> In this chapter, we wish to explore the ideas and narratives of the ‘anti-austerity’ milieu in Greece, as they were put forward during the turbulent times of the country’s economic and social crisis, first in the protests and occupied squares and then in the central political arena with the skyrocketing of the Coalition of Radical Left (Syriza). This was a time of considerable social contention, including more than 35 general strikes, the persistent movement of Syntagma Square’s Outraged and the double elections of 2012 that shook the political landscape, leading to the ‘anti-austerity’ government of 2015. We are mainly interested in elaborating on a) the claims that were put forward in the protests, b) the means by which these claims were communicated vis-à-vis the hegemonic narrative of the Greek elites, c) the structural elements in Greek society that made such claims popular and appealing to wider masses and d) why the counterhegemonic narratives have found it hard to be transformed into a homogenous, majoritarian political subject that could offer for Greece a political way out of the crisis.

]]> Every crisis is a digital opportunity: The aganaktismenoi movement’s use of social media and the emergence of networked solidarity in Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/every-crisis-is-a-digital-opportunity-the-aganaktismenoi-movements-use-of-social-media-and-the-emergence-of-networked-solidarity-in-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:37 +0000 http://arc.local/items/every-crisis-is-a-digital-opportunity-the-aganaktismenoi-movements-use-of-social-media-and-the-emergence-of-networked-solidarity-in-greece/