Athens: Social Meltdown VIDEO

[Dimitris Dalakoglou]

An ethnographically informed approach to the social meltdown in Athens of crisis. This video is linked with the preparations for an ESRC/Future Research Leaders-funded project that starts officially tomorrow under the title: "The City at the Time of Crisis: Transformations of Public Spaces in Athens."   

The video have also been posted in two groups: Urban Anthropology and Visual Anthropology. But its contents have shocking relevance to all of us at the OAC.

[Keith Hart]

I was in Northern Greece in July, Epirus near the border with Albania, invited by Vassilis Nitsiakos and a group of post-nationalist Greek ethnographers for the Konitsa summer school. This area was the cradle of the Greek civil war, itself a sort of cradle of the Cold War. I didn't get the impression that the left was optimistic about the outcome of this crisis. Greece is both highly unequal and divided, with a recent history of fascism, shown here in the role of the police (half of whom are thought to have voted for the extreme right in the last election).

Thanks so much for putting it up here, Dimitris. It is one thing to grasp the possibility of social breakdown from a distance, quite another to see the lived reality of this conflict.

If you get a chance to tell us more about the making of the film and about your new project, I am sure OAC members would be glad to hear it.

[Jürgen Schraten]

Thanks for this phantastic piece of documentation.

For me, two main questions derive from it.

The debate on the European crisis seems to be divided between two factions. One faction is attached to the hegemonial public discourse. To put it in the terms of David Graeber, they think that "debts have to be paid back" without regard of their origin or purpose. The other faction is inspired by more or less traditional left wing theory and most of the participants recognise how the European economic establishment reshuffles the continent into a divided economy again. But unfortunately - and this is nicely shown in the documentation - they seem to find no way beyond protest and attacking the hegemonial discourse.

The first question that derives from it: How do we conceptualise a percetion of the European crisis that offers options beyond the confrontation portrayed?

The second question that derives: How can social scientists from Northern and Central Europe do more to force open the public and scientific debate in their countries (Germany, The Netherlands, France, GB, the Scandinavian countries) on the crisis?

[Nathan Dobson]

Thanks for this. It's a well-produced, multi-perspective and revealing treatment of some difficult material. I would really like to hear more about the project.

[Dimitris Dalakoglou]

Thank you Keith,  Jurgen and Nathan for your comments. 

Some brief points on your comments:

I think that what we are observing at the moment is an expansion of an extreme neoliberal regime to the periphery of Western (as political entity) Europe. This regime was applied earlier in other countries, including post-socialist ones and now it is coming towards the West.

Greece is a paradigmatic neoliberal experiment, within months Portugal and Ireland were forced to follow the same scheme: a huge loan from IMF/EU/ECB. When one invites IMF the structural adjustments can be only violent. Extremely violent in fact. So the confrontational pictures are inevitable. 

At the same time in the case of the current expansion of extreme neoliberalism in Euorpean periphery there are certain particularities, which make the case both exceptional but at the same time typical and paradigmatic enough in order to allow for an understanding of the current social change all around Europe.

So in fact the City at the Time of Crisis project studies ethnographically and in terms of urban materiality and spatial practices the rapid social change in Athens.

Regarding the role of social scientists I think a first solution is the escape from the academic bubble and actual involvement in political debates and political actions, an approach which if it is not on the level of the street, then it will be as irrelevant as the government approaches. With obvious reference to participant observation here.

  

 

 

[Paul Wilson]

Since I am very pessimistic, at least for the near term, I hope there will be a focus on survival strategies.

Dimitris Dalakoglou said:

Regarding the role of social scientists I think a first solution is the escape from the academic bubble and actual involvement in political debates and political actions, an approach which if it is not on the level of the street, then it will be as irrelevant as the government approaches. With obvious reference to participant observation here.

  

 

 

[Dimitris Dalakoglou]

Hi Paul,

You are right, but survival strategies are political as well, often very explicitly political, for example in Greece these days a part of humanitarian action in Greece is undertaken by the extreme-right with a very specific political agenda behind it. 

D

[NIKOS GOUSGOUNIS]

So, anthropologists have to act politically, is that the only real future of anthropology ?

[Keith Hart]

No they don't, but it would be weird if they never took up political questions.

[NIKOS GOUSGOUNIS]

Remember what we were discussing here in OAC 2 years ago on this matter.This topic sounds to be only political from alpha to omega and participant observation methods are too much outdated for this sort of political events studies

[Dimitris Dalakoglou]

Apropos, the video now has Greek subtitles.

best

Dimitris