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Social Movements and Solidarity Structures in Crisis-Ridden Greece

Social Movements and Solidarity Structures in Crisis-Ridden Greece

Haris Malamidis
OPEN ACCESS
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv18x4hxs
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  • Book Info
    Social Movements and Solidarity Structures in Crisis-Ridden Greece
    Book Description:

    Social Movements and Solidarity Structures in Crisis-Ridden Greece explores the rich grassroots experience of social movements in Greece between 2008 and 2016. The harsh conditions of austerity triggered the rise of vibrant mobilizations that went hand-in-hand with the emergence of numerous solidarity structures, providing unofficial welfare services to the suffering population. Based on qualitative field research conducted in more than 50 social movement organizations in Greece’s two major cities, the book offers an in-depth analysis of the contentious mechanisms that led to the development of such solidarity initiatives. By analyzing the organizational structure, resources and identity of markets without middlemen, social and collective kitchens, organizations distributing food parcels, social clinics and self-managed cooperatives, this study explains the enlargement of boundaries of collective action in times of crisis.

    eISBN: 978-90-485-5146-0
    Subjects: Sociology, Public Policy & Administration

Table of Contents

  1. (pp. 11-26)

    Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the breakdown of the financial system in the USA, the economic crisis quickly spread to the other side of the Pacific, predominantly affecting the national economies of the South. Found at the epicentre, Greece has experienced an explosion of movements against austerity which challenged the legitimacy of neoliberal representative democracy. Nevertheless, rampant austerity measures provoked the rise of service-oriented repertoires, with numerous social solidarity structures providing welfare services to the suffering population (Kousis et al., 2018; Papadaki and Kalogeraki, 2017), which came to the forefront once the dynamic of the protests started to...

  2. Part I Boundary Enlargement and Anti-Austerity Mobilizations

    • (pp. 29-64)

      This research argues that the recent economic crisis has enabled the facilitation of a boundary enlargement process, which has affected social movement organizations (SMOs) both internally, in terms of their internal operation, but also externally, regarding their relationship with institutional actors. In order to demonstrate this, we base our explanatory framework on the literature of social movements, with particular focus on the Contentious Politics approach.

      The study of processes and mechanisms in social movement studies dates back to 2001, when McAdam, Tarrow and Tilly introduced the Dynamics of Contention. Since the 1980s, frame scholars criticized the static model of resource...

    • (pp. 65-104)

      Social movement studies lie at the intersection of sociology and political science. This particular field of academic research not only represents and analyzes the formation of informal politics, but it also reflects the societal approach towards collective action. In this respect, we can understand the changes in the Greek society’s views on various social movements, by examining Greek research in this field. Unfortunately, there is a lack of detailed accounts on social movements. The prevalence of political parties as the only means of representation for collective interests resulted in a lack of attention by the national and international academic community...

  3. Part II Social Movements in Food, Health and Labour

    • (pp. 107-160)

      Compared to the social movement scenes of health and labour, the social movement scene of food presents a greater degree of complexity, since it deals with three different repertoires: the organization of markets without middlemen, the facilitation of collective and social kitchens and the collection and distribution of food parcels. Along with the repertoires, plurality also refers to the organizers. These range from grassroots initiatives and neighbourhood assemblies to traditional social centres. In order to explore the mechanisms that form the boundary enlargement process, we analyse the rise of the markets without middlemen and their transition to consumer cooperatives; we...

    • (pp. 161-198)

      The social movement scene of health comprises another example which emerged due to the recent economic crisis and the conditions of austerity. Compared to the plurality of the repertoires analysed in the previous chapter, the health scene focuses on the advent of social clinics and the provision of primary healthcare services and medication free of charge. This chapter aims to investigate the social movement scene in the health sector, in order to unravel the development of the boundary enlargement process. By paying attention to the clinics’ organizational structure and decision-making systems, resources and identity, we explore the basic mechanisms and...

    • (pp. 199-246)

      The term “social movement scene of labour” may be perhaps met with skepticism by those familiar with social movement studies. About 50 years ago the labour movement was not a distinct aspect of social movements; instead, it pervaded various forms of collective action. Nevertheless, the end of the 1960s signaled the advent of new social movements, bringing other actors to the forefront and enriching the activities, repertoires, frames and goals of the people taking to the streets. “Working class heroes” started to be replaced by middle-class citizens, while labour issues became marginal in the movements’ agenda, compared to broader post-material...

  4. Part III Different Applications of Boundary Enlargement

    • (pp. 249-270)

      The advent of the economic crisis transformed the social movement community in Greece, as attention shifted from claim-based protest repertoires towards service-oriented forms of action. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 provide primary empirical insight to the repertoires developed in the food, health, and labour social movement scenes; the contentious politics framework claims that similar sets of mechanisms are identified in different contexts, while different sets of mechanisms lead to similar processes. This inquiry conceives the change in repertoires as a reflection of a boundary enlargement process, where previously defined boundaries of collective action are extended both practically and conceptually. In...

    • (pp. 271-310)

      The previous chapters analyse the process of boundary enlargement in crisis-ridden Greece. Without limiting its function to the incorporation of service-oriented repertoires, this section focuses on the provision of unofficial welfare services by social movement actors in other contexts. By paying attention to the Spanish anti-austerity mobilizations in 2011 and the Argentinean movements of the 2001 crisis, we highlight a few instances in which the process of boundary enlargement may contribute to empirical research.

      Spain has experienced three protest cycles from the 1960s onwards (Portos, 2019, p. 48), with the last one ending in 2004 after the PSOE, Partido Socialista...

  5. (pp. 311-330)

    In response to the 2008 economic crisis, the European states implemented a series of strict austerity measures, the most severe of which were implemented in the Mediterranean countries. Austerity agendas were met with tremendous social mobilizations, triggering a new cycle of contention. The exposition of the Greek national debt placed the country at the epicentre of the economic crisis. Similar to the policies of the neoliberal “shock doctrine” (Klein, 2007), Greek authorities signed a series of structural adjustment programmes known as Memorandums of Understanding, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission (EC), and European Central Bank (ECB), severely affecting...