2012 – To Archeio https://toarcheio.org To Archeio project site Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:47 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 The causal powers of social change: the case of modern Greek society https://toarcheio.org/items/the-causal-powers-of-social-change-the-case-of-modern-greek-society/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:47 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/the-causal-powers-of-social-change-the-case-of-modern-greek-society/ Continued]]> This article provides an empirical exploration of social change, by assessing subjective experiences and evaluations in relation to social alterations in Modern Greek society. The investigation concerns whether change in everyday life deriving from the Greek crisis also involves an alteration in the ways that Greeks perceive and consider social reality and themselves within it. This article supports the view that social change is related to agency in terms of reflexivity and that Greeks have contributed to social change through the alteration of their ways of thinking and behaving. Participants reported that practices, norms and mentalities inhereted by previous generations are no longer helpful. Customs (such as clientilism) and mentalities (such as prioritizing the personal over collective interest) must now change and be reformed as the new reality demands different ways of thinking and rapid adaptations to a new way of living which has become economically restricted and politically unstable. In this sense, Greeks are becoming reflexive towards the present situation and themselves within it and critical towards the past and future, as they consider what part of the older generation’s established mentalities to retain and what aspects of their way of living will alter.

]]> Media and the Economic crisis of the EU: The ‘culturalization’ of a systemic crisis and Bild-Zeitung’s framing of Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/media-and-the-economic-crisis-of-the-eu-the-culturalization-of-a-systemic-crisis-and-bild-zeitungs-framing-of-greece/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:41 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/media-and-the-economic-crisis-of-the-eu-the-culturalization-of-a-systemic-crisis-and-bild-zeitungs-framing-of-greece/ Continued]]> This article critically studies the hegemonic discursive construction of the EU’s current (2012) economic crisis, as it is articulated by political and economic elites and by mass media. The study focuses on the political economy of the particular crisis and through the critical concept of reification, the study emphasizes the hegemonic naturalization of the economic crisis by the “free market” economistic ideology. The article problematizes the positioning of Greece as the “crisis epicentre” in Europe, understanding Greece as a scapegoat and as a laboratory where political strategies of capitalist restructuring of the EU are performed. Through the frame analysis of Bild-zeitung’s headlines on the coverage of crisis-struck Greece, the article discusses a) the “culturalization” of the crisis and the diversion from a structural public debate on the global economic crisis b) the disciplinary function of crisis’ publicity, related to social control and the production of new, neoliberal social subjectivities c) the alienating effect of the culturalist crisis discourses to transnational publics, resulting to the misrecognition of the ideological and structural reasons of the given crisis, the misrecognition of the effects of the crisis and crisis-politics in people’s lives, the misrecognition of popular socio-political struggles in countries worse struck by crisis politics, and the eclipse of transnational solidarity and identification to the common issues that European people in particular are facing.

]]> Heterotopian space and the utopics of ethical and green consumption https://toarcheio.org/items/heterotopian-space-and-the-utopics-of-ethical-and-green-consumption/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:05 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/heterotopian-space-and-the-utopics-of-ethical-and-green-consumption/ Continued]]> In this article, we illustrate how Exarcheia, an Athenian neighbourhood that is renowned for its capacity for revolt and anti-capitalist ethos, provides a rich site for utopian praxis, particularly in relation to a range of green and ethical marketplace behaviours. Arguing that space and place are essential to questions of ethics, ecology, and politics, we explore Exarcheia as a heterotopian space that fosters critique and experimentation, generating new ways of thinking and doing green/ethical behaviours. Drawing on data from a two-year ethnography, our findings not only challenge individualised and de-contextualised notions of the consumer, but also expose moralistic and post-political assumptions that often go unnoticed in ethical and green consumer research. We point to the need for a counter-strand in the literature that reviews instances that we recognise as ethical or green consumerism not in terms of identity projects or given ideas of ethics but rather with reference to the particularity of the spatial contexts in which they occur and their political implications.

]]> THE CONDITION OF CRISIS AND THE SYMPTOMS OF SOCIAL CHANGE: FIVE FLIGHTS OF THOUGHT ON THE POST OF THE GREEK POST-POLITY ERA https://toarcheio.org/items/the-condition-of-crisis-and-the-symptoms-of-social-change-five-flights-of-thought-on-the-post-of-the-greek-post-polity-era/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:54 +0000 http://arc.local/items/the-condition-of-crisis-and-the-symptoms-of-social-change-five-flights-of-thought-on-the-post-of-the-greek-post-polity-era/ Continued]]> It is a well-known fact that Greece faces one of the most precarious and transformative periods of its modern history. Greek society has come to learn, in a baleful manner, that crisis is the sequence of its former political inefficiencies and a slump that must be overcome. The pressure of this awareness leads people to deface previously established social convictions about the self and the world. In this procedure, social and mass media articulate and (re)produce discourses from above, below and the past so to capitalize the present for a new and solid horizon for the future. This article challenges five beliefs that circulate in the Greek public sphere, inculcating in the collective consciousness their incontrovertible realities. The end of Post-Polity era (the “former” political status quo of Greece), the revival of ethno-socialist movements, the debt crisis of eurozone countries, youth’s stand for social change and the role of Greece in this global financial turmoil comprise the contents of this critical debate; one that aims to make sense of what social change feels like in the context of the current global crisis.

]]> Making Sense of Greek Austerity https://toarcheio.org/items/making-sense-of-greek-austerity/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:15 +0000 http://arc.local/items/making-sense-of-greek-austerity/ Continued]]> The process of approving a Greek drawing on funds provided by the international community is now familiar. There is concern about the prospect of securing an agreement between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB), and Greece, which satisfies all parties. This paper suggests that all parties to the agreement have interests in an orderly resolution of the Greek crisis that keeps Greece in the Eurozone. Furthermore, it argues that disagreements and delay before eleventh‐hour agreements can best be explained politically. The paper first demonstrates how Greece, the IMF, and the EU each have a clear interest in finding an orderly solution to the Greek crisis that allows it to remain in the Eurozone. It then outlines the incremental nature of the package and its strategic benefit both for the European banking sector, and governments in Greece and the Eurozone more broadly.

]]> Λαϊκισμός, αντιλαϊκισμός και κρίση https://toarcheio.org/items/%ce%bb%ce%b1%cf%8a%ce%ba%ce%b9%cf%83%ce%bc%cf%8c%cf%82-%ce%b1%ce%bd%cf%84%ce%b9%ce%bb%ce%b1%cf%8a%ce%ba%ce%b9%cf%83%ce%bc%cf%8c%cf%82-%ce%ba%ce%b1%ce%b9-%ce%ba%cf%81%ce%af%cf%83%ce%b7/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:15 +0000 http://arc.local/items/%ce%bb%ce%b1%cf%8a%ce%ba%ce%b9%cf%83%ce%bc%cf%8c%cf%82-%ce%b1%ce%bd%cf%84%ce%b9%ce%bb%ce%b1%cf%8a%ce%ba%ce%b9%cf%83%ce%bc%cf%8c%cf%82-%ce%ba%ce%b1%ce%b9-%ce%ba%cf%81%ce%af%cf%83%ce%b7/ Continued]]> “Το θέμα αυτής της μελέτης είναι συγκεκριμένο: η συγκρότηση του σημερινού αντιλαϊκιστικού λόγου. Σε αυτόν τον λόγο, η αυτόματη σχεδόν διάγνωση (κάποιου είδους) λαϊκισμού συνυπάρχει με ευρύτερες αξιώσεις για την ερμηνεία της κρίσης και των αιτίων της. Σε όλες όμως τις περιπτώσεις, ο αντιλαϊκιστικός λόγος ενεργοποιεί μια βασική αφετηριακή πεποίθηση: ότι ο λαϊκισμός, και ιδιαίτερα ένας αριστερόστροφος ή προοδευτικός/αντιστασιακός λαϊκισμός, συνιστά εδώ και καιρό τον κύριο στρατηγικό εχθρό κάθε έλλογης πολιτικής, κάθε μεταρρυθμιστικής αγαθής βούλησης. […] Ο αντιλαϊκιστικός λόγος διεκδικεί πια με τη μεγαλύτερη ένταση το μονοπώλιο της ορθής χρήσης του δημόσιου λόγου και της πρακτικής πολιτικής φρόνησης. Εκδηλώνεται συγχρόνως ως η αυταπόδεικτη αλήθεια του πραγματικού, των όρων ύπαρξης και συγκρότησης της πραγματικής ζωής απέναντι στις “ονειροβασίες” των αντιπάλων του. […] Η κυρίαρχη πολιτική κλίση του σημερινού αντιλαϊκισμού είναι ένας ολιγαρχικός ελιτισμός σε απόκλιση από τον πυρήνα αξιών μιας φιλελεύθερης και κοινωνικής δημοκρατίας”.
(Νικόλας Σεβαστάκης)

“Η διαμάχη λαϊκισμού-αντιλαϊκισμού αναδύεται πλέον σε αξονική διαιρετική τομή της ελληνικής δημόσιας σφαίρας. Από τη μία, όπως ήταν αναμενόμενο, τα αιτήματα των κοινωνικών στρωμάτων και των πολιτών που βιώνουν τη βίαιη καθοδική κοινωνική κινητικότητα σταδιακά συντάσσονται μεταξύ τους σε ένα διεκδικητικό πλαίσιο που αντιπαραθέτει τον “λαό” στις εγχώριες και ευρωπαϊκές πολιτικές και οικονομικές ελίτ. Από την άλλη, όπως δεν ήταν το ίδιο αναμενόμενο, ανίκανες και απρόθυμες να οικειοποιηθούν παραγωγικά και να μετουσιώσουν το “λαϊκό”, οι εν λόγω ελίτ επιχειρούν να το απωθήσουν ανάγοντάς το στο σύστοιχό του “λαϊκιστικό”, στο οποίο βολικά φορτώνουν κάθε κακοδαιμονία. […] Το κρίσιμο ερώτημα είναι μάλλον το εξής: πώς είναι δυνατόν να καλλιεργηθεί ένας υπεύθυνος λαϊκός-δημοκρατικός πόλος – ένας υπεύθυνος, δημοκρατικός λαϊκισμός; […] Πρόκειται για ένα στοίχημα ανοιχτό, μιας και ο δεσμός ανάμεσα στα λαϊκά-δημοκρατικά αιτήματα και τον φορέα, το πολιτικό υποκείμενο, που θα κατορθώσει να αναλάβει την αντιπροσώπευσή τους είναι αμφίδρομος, χαρακτηρίζεται από πλαστικότητα. Ο πολιτικός φορέας κατασκευάζει, επινοεί εκείνο που συγχρόνως αντιπροσωπεύει· προσφέρει στον “λαό” μορφή και προσανατολισμό”.
(Γιάννης Σταυρακάκης)

]]> On the causes and significance of the december 2008 social explosion in Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/on-the-causes-and-significance-of-the-december-2008-social-explosion-in-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:15 +0000 http://arc.local/items/on-the-causes-and-significance-of-the-december-2008-social-explosion-in-greece/ Continued]]> The social explosion of December 2008 in Greece represented a postscript from the future. In a country where the consequences of the global economic crisis had already begun to make themselves felt — in conjunction with the collapse of a specific model for integration into the global division of labor — it had become evident that the younger generations were destined to experience a much worse future than preceding generations. The realization that unemployment, flexible working hours and hyper-exploitation would be the norm, in combination with other conjunctural questions (an exacerbation of repression, political scandals, sharpening of the migration question), resulted in the situation whereby the country with the richest leftist traditions in Western Europe witnessed an explosion of the greatest youth revolt of the last 30 years. It would mark a turning point for the development of new outbreaks of social upheaval that would bring to the fore the contradictions in management of the global capitalist crisis.

]]> A Democracy under Stress. Greece since 2010 https://toarcheio.org/items/a-democracy-under-stress-greece-since-2010/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:15 +0000 http://arc.local/items/a-democracy-under-stress-greece-since-2010/ Continued]]> The severe economic crisis of Greece has tested the limits of Greek democracy and revealed a crisis of governance. Social protest has challenged legitimate political institutions, while a new polarized multiparty system has emerged. The causes of these trends are related to the impact of the economic crisis and to a combination of low-quality democracy and extended income inequality, which, in turn, stem from the longer-term deficiencies of the democratic regime that emerged after the fall of Greek Colonels from power (1974). Deficiencies include the intrusion and replication of party competition in all administrative and social institutions, the capture of public policy sectors by strong interest groups, and an ineffective welfare state that protects a limited number of “insider” groups.

]]> Understanding the difficulties of implementation of a teachers’ evaluation system in Greek primary education: From national past to European influences https://toarcheio.org/items/understanding-the-difficulties-of-implementation-of-a-teachers-evaluation-system-in-greek-primary-education-from-national-past-to-european-influences/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:15 +0000 http://arc.local/items/understanding-the-difficulties-of-implementation-of-a-teachers-evaluation-system-in-greek-primary-education-from-national-past-to-european-influences/ Continued]]> This article delves into the reactions of national institutions to various external stimuli originating from supra-national policies formulated by international organisms and other bureaucracies. The authors argue that such stimuli, when ignoring various previous arrangements developed in a given social and/or historic (national) context, may disrupt the institution’s balance. In particular, they create divergence among the three pillars — normative, regulative and cultural-cognitive — around which an institution is built and lead the main actors involved with it — players — to act with the aim to best serve their own interests. In the case of Greece the attempt on the part of the Greek government to establish a system of evaluation at the level of primary education — following the country’s participation into the European Union — led to severe conflict among the actors involved and to the institution’s neutralisation. Accordingly, the level of divergence between what is desirable (normative pillar), what is established by law (regulative pillar) and everyday practice (cultural-cognitive pillar) became larger. Finally, the problematic institution’s function resulted to an even more serious crisis, which could well be interpreted as ‘creolisation’ of the Greek education system.

]]> Squares in Movement https://toarcheio.org/items/squares-in-movement/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:15 +0000 http://arc.local/items/squares-in-movement/ Continued]]> What has been called the squares movement is characterized by practices of commoning that reinvent public space as commons. People in the recent square occupations were not only demanding justice and direct democracy but were also creating ad hoc new forms of solidarity and egalitarian organization. Focusing especially on the Syntagma Square occupation in Athens, this essay explores the importance of a decentralization–recentralization dialectics both for the construction of a shared feeling of belonging to communities in movement and for the emergence of new forms of political subjectivation. Analysis attempts to compare discourses and manifestos to acts of coordination and mutual support in an effort to show that the “occupy the squares” phenomenon is multifarious and dynamic and that it challenges many of the certainties of oppositional movement (Left or anarchist).

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