Surplus Citizens

Dimitra Kotouza

Description

The crisis in Greece has elicited the full spectrum of responses - from optimism for a left parliamentary politics inspired by Syriza's electoral victory, to pessimism about the intransigence of the EU and calls for the reinstatement of full national sovereignty in Europe.



In Surplus Citizens, Dimitra Kotouza questions the terms of the debate by demonstrating how the national framing of social contestation posed obstacles to transformative collective action, but also how this framing has been challenged. Analysing the increasing superfluousness of subordinate classes in Greece as part of a global phenomenon with racialised and gendered dimensions, the book interrogates the strengths, contradictions and limits of collective action and identity in the crisis, from the movement of the squares and neighbourhood assemblies, to new forms of labour activism, environmental struggles, immigrant protests, anti-fascism and pro-refugee activism.



Arguing against the strategic fixation on unified identities and pointing instead to the transformative potential of internal dispute within movements, Surplus Citizens highlights the relevance of a discussion of Greece to collective action beyond it, as we continue to traverse a global financial crisis that has provoked conflicts over nationalism, immigration and the rise of neo-fascism.

Acknowledgements

Note on Transliteration

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: Squares and Frontiers

PART I - HISTORIES: UNDEAD AND INVISIBLE CONFLICTS, TRANSFORMATIONS, CRISIS

1. The Making of Greek Capitalism through Race, Gender and Class

2. Victories, Defeats and Neoliberal Transformation, 1973–2008

3. Symptoms of Crisis

PART II - BECOMING SURPLUS: STRUGGLE AND ITS LIMITS

4. Social Struggle, Non-Identity and Popular Democracy

5. Citizens from Democracy to Riot

6. Labour and Superfluity

7. Solidarity, Charity or Exchange?

8. The Forest Against Work, Workers Against the Forest

9. Care, Vulnerability and Gender Politics

PART III - NATIONALISM, BIOPOLITICS AND STRUGGLE AT THE BORDERS

10. Everyday Racism, Crisis Nationalisms and Migrant ‘Autonomy’

11. Surplus Population Management by a Nation-State in Crisis

12. Nationalism from Below

13. Migrant Struggle and Anti-Fascism

Conclusion

Index

Sujets

• Political Advocacy
• Political Process
• Political Ideologies
• Political Science
• Civil Rights
• Coalición de la Izquierda Radical
• Orden Hermética del Alba Dorada
• Movimiento Socialista Panhelénico
• Salónica
• Advocacy group
• 21st century
• Communism
• Coalition of the Radical Left
• Marxism
• Panhellenic Socialist Movement
• Communist Party of Greece
• Golden Dawn
• Eurozone
• Thessaloniki
• Civil and political rights
• Xenophobia
• Nationalism
• Activism
• Coalition de la gauche radicale
• Greece
• Communisme
• Judith Butler
• Mouvement socialiste panhellénique
• Ordre hermétique de l'Aube dorée
• Thessalonique
• Zone euro

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 juillet 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781786803672
• Langue: English

Extrait

Surplus Citizens
Surplus Citizens
Struggle and Nationalism in the Greek Crisis
Dimitra Kotouza
First published 2019 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright Dimitra Kotouza 2019
The right of Dimitra Kotouza to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7453 3779 1 Hardback
ISBN 978 0 7453 3778 4 Paperback
ISBN 978 1 7868 0366 5 PDF eBook
ISBN 978 1 7868 0368 9 Kindle eBook
ISBN 978 1 7868 0367 2 EPUB eBook

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.
Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
Simultaneously printed in the United Kingdom and United States of America
Contents
Acknowledgements
Note on Transliteration
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Squares and Frontiers
PART I HISTORIES: UNDEAD AND INVISIBLE CONFLICTS, TRANSFORMATIONS, CRISIS
1. The Making of Greek Capitalism through Race, Gender and Class
2. Victories, Defeats and Neoliberal Transformation, 1973-2008
3. Symptoms of Crisis
PART II BECOMING SURPLUS: STRUGGLE AND ITS LIMITS
4. Social Struggle, Non-Identity and Popular Democracy
5. Citizens from Democracy to Riot
6. Labour and Superfluity
7. Solidarity, Charity or Exchange?
8. The Forest Against Work, Workers Against the Forest
9. Care, Vulnerability and Gender Politics
PART III NATIONALISM, BIOPOLITICS AND STRUGGLE AT THE BORDERS
10. Everyday Racism, Crisis Nationalisms and Migrant Autonomy
11. Surplus Population Management by a Nation-State in Crisis
12. Nationalism from Below
13. Migrant Struggle and Anti-Fascism
Conclusion
Index
Acknowledgements
The manuscript of this book went through a long seven-year journey and many transformations before reaching its current form, shaped by the input of several individuals, collectives and institutions.
The very subject of the book - social struggles in Greece - could not exist without the collective praxis that took place in the crisis and I am thankful to those who gave their time to talk with me about their experiences. My ideas were continually and fruitfully challenged by the critical exchanges among self-organised collectives and networks, not all of which are currently still in existence. I thank all of the friends from reading groups, discussion groups and self-published journals, for the time, engagement, research and theoretical work they have shared, whose influence has been defining. I am especially indebted to the Endnotes journal collective who inspired my thinking, among other things, on surplus population and the psychoanalysis of political groups; my friends from the late Feminist Reading Group for creating a nurturing space for open reflection on gender; as well as the contributors to the now-discontinued journal Blaumachen for the stimulating discussions on social struggles in Greece between 2011 and 2013. Heartfelt thanks also to Andreas Serifis for his enthusiasm in discussing my work with others and communicating feedback, as well as for providing advice and introducing me to people with long-running experience in important movements and projects.
I completed the earliest version of this work as a doctoral thesis for the school of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent, where I received the kind support - intellectual, emotional and practical - of my supervisor Iain MacKenzie. I am grateful to him for encouraging critical exploration and creativity beyond the often restrictive confines of academia and its disciplinary boundaries. The thesis manuscript received extremely useful commentaries from my two examiners who graciously demanded no corrections, Donatella Alessandrini and Alberto Toscano. I am especially grateful to the latter for his impressively detailed and thoughtful notes spanning the entire manuscript, which fed into significant revisions. The research for the thesis would not have been possible without the funding, in the first three years, of the Economic and Social Research Council, for which I am very fortunate. I am also thankful to friends who offered feedback on that early text: Themis Katsoulis, whose substantial knowledge and experience provided invaluable information and a unique perspective on Greek history; Zacharias Zoubir, Sam Clodd and Simon Bull, who picked out weaknesses in my early analysis of migration, racism and biopolitics; and Larne Abse Gogarty, for her attentive comments on my approach to history.
For always encouraging my writing, providing an avenue to publish early versions of it and offering thoughtful feedback and a formative space for critical reflection over the many years of working together, I owe a great deal to my colleagues of the Mute editorial collective: Pauline van Mourik Broekman, Simon Worthington, Josephine Berry, Benedict Seymour, Anthony Iles, Matthew Hyland, Mira Mattar and Stefan Szczelkun. For his appreciation of this work and for motivating me to complete the book manuscript I am thankful to David Schulman of Pluto Press, as well as to Dan Harding for painstakingly copy-editing the text in a short space of time.
Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my husband Dimitris, who, in addition to his love and his daily emotional generosity, has provided care and material support during the difficult time of trying to combine writing, navigating the frustrations of the academic labour market and becoming a mother. Not only this, but he continues to help me grow intellectually and emotionally in more ways than he knows.
Note on Transliteration
All transliterations use the ISO 843 system, which allows full reversibility, to assist the reader in locating original Greek titles. Please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO 843 .
List of Abbreviations
AK
Astik s K dikas (Civil Code)
ANTARSYA
Antikapitalistik Arister Synergas a gia t n Anatrop (Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow)
ASOEE
An t t Schol Oikonomik n kai Emporik n Epist m n (Athens University of Economics and Business)
DIMAR
D mokratik Arister (Democratic Left) EAM Ethnik Apeleuther tik M t po (National Liberation Front)
EC
European Commission
ECB
European Central Bank
EEC
European Economic Community
EL.STAT
Ell nik Statistik Arch (Greek Statistical Authority)
ELAS
Ethnik s La k s Apeleuther tik s Strat s (National Popular Liberation Army)
EMU
Economic and Monetary Union
ERT
Ell nik Radiof n a kai T le ras (Greek Radio and Television)
EU
European Union
FEK
Fyllo Ef mer das t s Kyvern se s (Official Government Gazette)
GD
Golden Dawn (Chrys Aug )
GSEE
Genik Synomospond a Ergat n Ell dos (General Confederation of Workers of Greece)
IKA
dryma Koin nik n Asfal se n (Institute of Social Security)
IME GSEVEE
Instito to Mikr n Epicheir se n - Genik Synomospond a Epaggelmati n Viotechn n Emp r n Ell das (Small Enterprises Institute of the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftspersons, and Merchants)
IMF
International Monetary Fund
INE-GSEE
Instito to Ergas as
GSEE
(Labour Institute of GSEE)
KKE
Kommounistik K mma Ell das (Communist Party of Greece)
LAOS
La k s Orth doxos Synagerm s (Popular Orthodox Rally)
N
Nomos (Law or Statute)
ND
N a D mokrat a (New Democracy)
OVES
Omospond a Viom chanik n kai Ergostasiak n S mate n (Federation for Industrial and Factory Trade Unions)
PAME
Panergatik Ag nistik M t po (All Workers Militant Front)
PASOK
Panell nio Sosialistik K n ma (Panhellenic Socialist Movement)
SEK
Sosialistik Ergatik K mma (Socialist Workers Party)
SKYA
Syn leus gia t n Kyklofor a t n Ag n n (Assembly for the Circulation of Struggles)
SYRIZA
Synaspism s Rizospastik s Arister s (Coalition of the Radical Left)
Introduction: Squares and Frontiers
After the global financial crisis broke out in 2008, new forms of struggle and uprisings began to spread, reinvigorating discussions around social transformation and left-wing political avenues out of the crisis. But by 2011, it was clear the new sequence of struggles did not have the recognisable form of class struggle: it was not primarily located in workplaces or led by a re-empowered labour movement. New movements occupied public spaces, demanded democracy, practised self-organisation and broke out in riots. In the case of Greece, the most indebted country of the European Union (EU) periphery where the most severe austerity was imposed, social struggles drew attention for their intensity and the graveness of what was at stake each time: supervisory institutions and governments claimed that if protests succeeded in their demands against austerity, then the country would default, and that would be even more catastrophic. Yet, over the years of austerity, which struggles failed to hinder, unemployment rose to over 25 per cent, and, from 2010 to 2013, the average wage purchasing power fell by 21 per cent. 1
In this context, with little room to move within the shackles of debt, the Eurozone project and the imperatives of capitalist reproduction in the crisis, the struggles resisting austerity in Greece displayed similar characteristics as elsewhere. In the Aganaktism noi movement of public square occupations, which was inspired by the occupation of Tahrir Square and Spain s Indignados and lasted for over two months, party mediation was unwelcome. In the squares there was an attempt to self-organise daily and develop the movement s own language. In the large demonstrations resisting new austerity measures, ferocious riots expanded spatially, numerically and compositionally. After these struggles peaked in early 2012, and a new right-wing-led coalition government w