2013 – To Archeio https://toarcheio.org To Archeio project site Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:43 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 «Πολιτισμικές» ερμηνείες της «ελληνικής κρίσης χρέους». Όψεις του νεοφιλελεύθερου λόγου στον ελληνικό δημόσιο χώρο https://toarcheio.org/items/%cf%80%ce%bf%ce%bb%ce%b9%cf%84%ce%b9%cf%83%ce%bc%ce%b9%ce%ba%ce%ad%cf%82-%ce%b5%cf%81%ce%bc%ce%b7%ce%bd%ce%b5%ce%af%ce%b5%cf%82-%cf%84%ce%b7%cf%82-%ce%b5%ce%bb%ce%bb%ce%b7%ce%bd/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:43 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/%cf%80%ce%bf%ce%bb%ce%b9%cf%84%ce%b9%cf%83%ce%bc%ce%b9%ce%ba%ce%ad%cf%82-%ce%b5%cf%81%ce%bc%ce%b7%ce%bd%ce%b5%ce%af%ce%b5%cf%82-%cf%84%ce%b7%cf%82-%ce%b5%ce%bb%ce%bb%ce%b7%ce%bd/ Behind the veil of philoxenia: The politics of immigration detention in Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/behind-the-veil-of-philoxenia-the-politics-of-immigration-detention-in-greece-2/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:22 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/behind-the-veil-of-philoxenia-the-politics-of-immigration-detention-in-greece-2/ Continued]]> This article sets out to summarise the policies, practices and experiences of immigration detention in contemporary Greece, as well as outlining how they have been critiqued domestically andinternationally. The article proceeds to address the ways in which the Greek state has reacted to criticisms and pressures for reform, especially from abroad. It is argued that neither domestic nor international interventions have succeeded in bringing about substantive progressive change in the Greek immigration detention system. Rather, Greek state authorities have systematically neutralised criticisms by employing an array of rhetorical techniques, most notably through evocation of philoxenia (broadly meaning hospitality to foreigners and strangers more generally) as a natural trait common to all Greeks. In addition to highlighting the dubious and paradoxical dimensions of the rhetorical defences deployed by the state in Greece, particularly concerning its discourse of philoxenia, the article goes on to discuss the main socio-political functions that have subtly been served inside the country’s borders through maintenance of deplorable policies and practices of immigration detention, including the symbolic management of public anxieties in accordance with what may be termed the ‘more eligibility’ principle. In pointing to these functions, the article helps to explain why the Greek state persists in making use of rhetoric that is blatantly indefensible and bound to attract further disapprobation.

]]> Crime and Economic Downturn: The Complexity of Crime and Crime Politics in Greece since 2009 https://toarcheio.org/items/crime-and-economic-downturn-the-complexity-of-crime-and-crime-politics-in-greece-since-2009/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:20 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/crime-and-economic-downturn-the-complexity-of-crime-and-crime-politics-in-greece-since-2009/ Continued]]> Description and explanation of the relationship between economic downturn and crime have to date been limited by the narrow scope of criminal activity characteristically selected as a focus by pertinent criminological scholarship. Efforts to examine the relationship have overwhelmingly approached it through the prism of common property and violent offences, or, and to a lesser degree, white-collar crime. As a consequence, appreciation has been impeded of the existence and heightened political significance of diverse and complex connections between a wider array of forms of criminality during times of economic downturn. To demonstrate the value of such connections to the study of the relationship between economic downturn and crime, we draw on the contemporary experience of crisis-hit Greece, where the political importance of associations between corruption, common property and violent offences, and illicit political violence, has made them indispensable components of any account of the linkages between economic downturn and crime in the Greek context.

]]> Dispatches from the Greek lab: Metaphors, strategies and debt in the European crisis https://toarcheio.org/items/dispatches-from-the-greek-lab-metaphors-strategies-and-debt-in-the-european-crisis/ Mon, 04 May 2020 23:24:16 +0000 https://toarcheio.org/items/dispatches-from-the-greek-lab-metaphors-strategies-and-debt-in-the-european-crisis/ Continued]]> This field note is a first attempt to reflect on the choreography of the European crisis from a psychosocial perspective. It focuses on the situation as it has been unfolding in one of the debtor countries of the South, namely Greece. After mapping a variety of metaphors, repertoires and strategies used to energise blame and guilt and thus legitimise the neoliberal policies implemented, it elaborates on the multiple functions of debt, articulating a biopolitical approach with Freudian and Lacanian theorisations of the superego. It also inscribes within this framework the current mutations in political domination.

]]> Spaces of contestation: Challenges, actors and expertise in the management of urban security in Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/spaces-of-contestation-challenges-actors-and-expertise-in-the-management-of-urban-security-in-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:23 +0000 http://arc.local/items/spaces-of-contestation-challenges-actors-and-expertise-in-the-management-of-urban-security-in-greece/ Continued]]> Urban security has emerged as one of the key priorities in political and public life in Greece over recent years, and especially since the country fell into financial crisis in 2009. This article offers an unprecedented overview of the challenges, actors and expertise in the management of urban security in Greece, drawing attention to the political tensions that envelop them. The first section focuses on the phenomena considered to constitute core challenges for urban security in the country: from common crime, immigration and urban poverty and degradation, to social unrest, policing, far-right militias and vigilantism. The various state and non-state actors engaged in the management of urban security are then outlined, and the relationship between expertise and official policy-making is critically assessed. Objective and subjective forms of insecurity are shown to be highly contentious, responses to such insecurities are found to produce insecurities in their own right, and constraints upon non-technical expertise are identified as limiting the scope of pertinent state policy.

]]> Στο ρίσκο της κρίσης – Στρατηγικές της Αριστεράς των δικαιωμάτων https://toarcheio.org/items/%cf%83%cf%84%ce%bf-%cf%81%ce%af%cf%83%ce%ba%ce%bf-%cf%84%ce%b7%cf%82-%ce%ba%cf%81%ce%af%cf%83%ce%b7%cf%82-%cf%83%cf%84%cf%81%ce%b1%cf%84%ce%b7%ce%b3%ce%b9%ce%ba%ce%ad%cf%82-%cf%84%ce%b7/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:23 +0000 http://arc.local/items/%cf%83%cf%84%ce%bf-%cf%81%ce%af%cf%83%ce%ba%ce%bf-%cf%84%ce%b7%cf%82-%ce%ba%cf%81%ce%af%cf%83%ce%b7%cf%82-%cf%83%cf%84%cf%81%ce%b1%cf%84%ce%b7%ce%b3%ce%b9%ce%ba%ce%ad%cf%82-%cf%84%ce%b7/ Continued]]> Γιατί οι μεταρρυθμίσεις είναι μια έννοια ζωτική για την Αριστερά; Ποια μπορεί να είναι μια ρεαλιστική και ταυτόχρονα ανθρώπινη διαχείριση του μεταναστευτικού; Ποιοι δικαιούνται την ελληνική ιθαγένεια; Τι τιμωρεί η δημοκρατία; Πώς μπορούμε να αντιμετωπίσουμε αποτελεσματικά τον νεοναζισμό, υπερβαίνοντας ενίοτε την τομή “Μνημόνιο-αντιμνημόνιο”; Πόσο αυτόνομος είναι ο αγώνας για τα δικαιώματα σε συνθήκες κρίσης; Γιατί η ασφάλεια και η ελευθερία δεν είναι έννοιες αντιθετικές;

Αυτά είναι μερικά από τα ερωτήματα που θέλει να απαντήσει το βιβλίο. Και το προσπαθεί, τεκμηριώνοντας, σε συγκεκριμένους τομείς δημοσίων πολιτικών, την υψηλή πολιτική επικινδυνότητα της συγκυρίας που βιώνει η Ελλάδα, αλλά και προβάλλοντας πειστικές στρατηγικές διεξόδου.

Καθώς η κοινωνία και η δημοκρατία δέχονται μια άνευ προηγουμένου επίθεση, είναι αναγκαία μια πολιτική ανάσχεσης της επίθεσης· ωστόσο, αυτή μένει λειψή χωρίς ένα πολιτικά ικανό σχέδιο για το μετά. Αυτό θέλει να αντιπροσωπεύσει η Αριστερά των δικαιωμάτων, αξιοποιώντας στο μέγιστο το πολιτειακό κεκτημένο της δημοκρατίας που εκφυλίζεται και τα δικαιώματα που βάλλονται σήμερα, αλλά κοιτώντας ταυτόχρονα και πέραν του φιλελευθερισμού. Ο ορίζοντας της κρίσης είναι απρόβλεπτος. Η ανατροπή της παρούσας διαχείρισης της κρίσης μέσα από μια βιώσιμη πρόταση διακυβέρνησης είναι μόνο η αρχή ενός απίστευτα δύσκολου δρόμου. Ενός δρόμου που αξίζει πάντως να χαράξουμε, διότι το ρίσκο που εμπεριέχει είναι σίγουρα προτιμότερο από το αδιέξοδο που βιώνουμε.

]]> Impact of Economic Crisis and Other Demographic and Socioeconomic Factors on Self-rated Health in Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/impact-of-economic-crisis-and-other-demographic-and-socioeconomic-factors-on-self-rated-health-in-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:23 +0000 http://arc.local/items/impact-of-economic-crisis-and-other-demographic-and-socioeconomic-factors-on-self-rated-health-in-greece/ Continued]]> Background: Financial crisis and worsened socio-economic conditions are associated with greater morbidity, less utilization of health services and deteriorated population’s health status. The aim of the present study was to investigate the determinants of self-rated health in Greece. Methods: Two national cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2006 and 2011 were combined, and their data were pooled giving information for 10 572 individuals. The sample in both studies was random and stratified by gender, age, degree of urbanization and geographic region. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the impact of several factors on self-rated health. Results: Poor self-rated health was most common in older people, unemployed, pensioners, housewives and those suffering from chronic disease. Men, individuals with higher education and those with higher income have higher probability to report better self-rated health. Furthermore, the probability of reporting poor self-rated health is higher at times of economic crisis. Conclusion: Our findings confirm the association of self-rated health with economic crisis and certain demographic and socio-economic factors. Given that the economic recession in Greece deepens, immediate and effective actions targeting health inequalities and improvements in health status are deemed necessary.

]]> Crisis social policy and social justice: the case of Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/crisis-social-policy-and-social-justice-the-case-of-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:22 +0000 http://arc.local/items/crisis-social-policy-and-social-justice-the-case-of-greece/ Continued]]> This paper explores the potential contribution of social justice and social policy for an equitable recovery from the crisis in the case of Greece. The first part discusses some theoretical dimensions of social justice focusing on its interrelation with social policy. Social justice is a contested theoretical concept in social and political theory, and a powerful but elusive term in social policy. The second part identifies the stark injustices in the Greek social policy arena, as well as the discontinuities of this ‘paradigm’ with the theoretical discourse provided in the first part. It is shown that the key elements of social justice do not inform social policy reform in times of crisis, and that the embedded political and economic deficit reinforces the uneven impact on the Greek society. The latter are predetermined by a sociopolitical culture based on clientelism, individualism and favouritism, and prescribed in the anti-social international ‘rescue plan’. The paper argues for a crisis social policy inspired by social justice and proposes a ‘distributive escape’ from the Greek deadlock, which entails a new sustainable social policy system, incorporating citizenship rights with basic welfare provisions; redistribution of resources and nurturing communitarian values.

]]> 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/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:22 +0000 http://arc.local/items/living-parallel-lives-italy-and-greece-in-an-age-of-austerity/ 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.

]]> The liminal worker: An ethnography of work, unemployment and precariousness in contemporary Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/the-liminal-worker-an-ethnography-of-work-unemployment-and-precariousness-in-contemporary-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:22 +0000 http://arc.local/items/the-liminal-worker-an-ethnography-of-work-unemployment-and-precariousness-in-contemporary-greece/ Continued]]> The Liminal Worker examines the experience of work, employment, employment insecurity and precariousness in a context of high unemployment and welfare state crisis in modern Greece. A theoretically-informed, anthropological exploration of the notion of work in contemporary western society and its relation to processes of political decision making, this book challenges the mainstream conception of work as an economic or purely productive activity, presenting a comparative analysis of work as a social phenomenon. Drawing on original empirical research, it explores the key themes of the transformation, experience, meaning and narrative of work and its relation to attendant social policies. A unique examination of the complicated experience of work and labour relations within power systems, institutions and organisations, as well as the reactions and survival strategies of ordinary actors facing precariousness in their daily existence, The Liminal Worker elaborates upon the notion of the anthropology of work and investigates the connection between ethnographic data (and its critical analysis) and the formation of policy. As such, it will be of interest to anthropologists, sociologists, policy makers and geographers concerned with questions of work, labour relations and policy formation.

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