Pendakis Katherine
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POLITICAL GENEALOGIES OF A GENERATION: KIN, MOVEMENT AND PARTY IN THE GREEK DIASPORA KATHERINE L. PENDAKIS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN SOCIOLOGY YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, CANADA APRIL 2015 © Katherine Pendakis, 2015 ABSTRACT This dissertation is about the struggle of one generation of men in the Greek diaspora to come to terms with––and act within––political genealogies that had shaped their everyday lives since childhood and with which they remain in an ongoing relation of (dis)identification today. The Greek civil war (1946-1949) had bestowed upon these men an inheritance of polarized associations: nationalism, religiosity, order, on the one hand; anti-Greek communism, on the other. Their childhood and adolescence in the post-civil war years were shaped by state practices that polarized the Left from the Right. By the time of the dictatorship in 1967, which was the catalyst for many to leave, families in Greece had experienced decades of institutionalized marginalization. The focus here is on the intersection of this legacy with the political activities and sensibilities of those who arrived in Toronto and mobilized themselves against the Greek regime. While the anti-dictatorship movement they created was originally heterogeneous, it became concentrically organized around the Panhellenic Liberation Movement (PAK) and the leadership of Toronto-based professor Andreas Papandreou. After the fall of the dictatorship in 1974, PAK became the foundation for a new political party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), with Andreas Papandreou as leader once again. Emerging as the hegemonic articulation of the left, PASOK became the first socialist party to govern Greece in 1981. Practically speaking, this meant that those anti-junta activists returning to Greece from Canada after the fall of the dictatorship found themselves navigating opportunities and trajectories that would have been inconceivable just a few years prior. The problem to be investigated in this dissertation is twofold: First, to what extent does the civil war have a legacy in the narratives of men who migrated to Canada in the 1960s and 1970s ii and how is this expressed? Second, how are political subjectivities constructed in these accounts from the vantage point of the ambiguous present-as-crisis? These questions are approached through ethnographic observations and interviews with those who were involved in the anti- dictatorship movement and either stayed in Toronto or returned to Greece after the fall of the military junta. iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my mother, Mary, and to my father, Paul, who fought his last brave battle in the course of this research iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without those participants who generously shared their stories and reflections. I have learned so much in your company. I sincerely thank my committee members at York University. My advisor, Michael Nijhawan, offered multiple readings of chapters. His insightful and challenging comments brought a richness and conceptual clarity to this work. Thank you, Michael, for your intellectual rigour and friendship. Many conversations over the last five years with Marc Lesage shaped my dissertation, but also my relationship to academic life. Many thanks, Marc, for your generosity-with time and home- cooked meals-and for your perpetual optimism. I am also indebted to Sakis Gekas, who contributed a much appreciated historical eye to the work. Andrea Muehlebach, Carlota McAllister and Kathy Bischoping were wonderful interlocutors during the dissertation defense. Thank you for such an interesting conversation and for challenging me in a nuanced and respectful way to further develop particular ideas. The assistance of Audrey Tokiwa (Assistant to the Director of the Graduate Program in Sociology) was also invaluable in facilitating the completion of my dissertation. Many of the ideas found here have been discussed with kindred spirits and strong minds: Kalle Dahlquist, whose friendship and creativity I cherish, read over many sections and offered thoughtful feedback at all hours of the night; Ilias Toliadis, who contributed an incredible set of sketches to this work, has been a consistent conversational companion and a wonderful Greek teacher; Rena Bivens was an unwavering source of intellectual and emotional support, patiently encouraging me to speak out my ideas as often as possible; my brother, Andrew, among many other things, helped clarify my thinking about the political left and center. I thank Jesse Carlson v for a productive conversation about the social life of political categories. I am grateful to Sylvia Mittler for making her excellent library available to me. As writing can be lonely business, I am especially grateful to friends who insisted that I remain a social creature. I thank Elisabeth Rondinelli for her unique ability to find the funny in almost everything and for being my ever stable companion. Weekends with Karine Côté Boucher, discussing film and literature over the most delicious meals (thanks Chris) were much needed reprieves from writing. My mentor, Danièle Bélanger, continues to be an inspiration for her ability to mother, educate, research and be good to everyone that comes her way. I thank Jasmin Hristov for her political kinship and loving support. Bhavani Ranganathan, Leah Sherwood, Jenn Wiebe, Rebecca Comeau and Selma Purac have brightened many days with their humour, curiosity and care. In Athens, one man bore the brunt of dissertation crazy-making: Ερνέστο, σε ευχαριστώ για την υποµονή και τη φιλία σου και ακόµα για όλα όσα που δεν υπάρχουν λέξεις να σε ευχαριστώ. I should note that this dissertation was generously funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Resource Council of Canada. The financial support offered by loved ones is also greatly appreciated: Many thanks to Mary, Andrew, Uncle John, Kalle, and Rena. Finally, I want to express my deepest appreciation for my family: Thank you, mum, for your unwavering love, good humour and joy for life. You taught us the importance of perseverance and autonomy. Andrew, your curiosity is always contagious, as is your playful spirit and commitment to better futures. I thank you for these gifts and for our many years of sibling complicity. Dad, I can not forget that the grueling hours you spent on the road made our education possible. For this I am grateful beyond words. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract............................................................................................................................................ii Dedication.......................................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................v Table of Contents...........................................................................................................................vii List of Figures.................................................................................................................................ix Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1. The Project ................................................................................................................................ 2 II. A Brief History of Marginalization .......................................................................................... 8 III. From Dangerous Citizens to Political Migrants? ................................................................. 14 IV. Chapter Breakdown .............................................................................................................. 21 Chapter 2 From Anecdotes to Ethnography: Reflections on Method and Conceptual Clarifications ............ 26 I. Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 27 Narratives of the Present, Ethnography of the Past? ............................................................... 27 Ethnographic Reflections in the Archive ................................................................................ 31 Situating the Researcher: A "Greek Daughter" comes home to Roost? ................................. 39 Telling Masculine Stories: Ethnography & Male Protagonists ............................................... 40 The Failed Taxonomies of Research........................................................................................45 II. Conceptual Clarifications ....................................................................................................... 50 The Sociality of the State ........................................................................................................ 50 The Social Life of Political Categories ................................................................................... 53 The Lexicon of Politics of Kinship ......................................................................................... 56 Political Subjectivity & Forms of Sociality ............................................................................ 59 Chapter 3 "Living in the File": The Social Life of Political Categories ........................................................