Practices of collective action and solidarity: reconfigurations of the public space in crisis- ridden Athens, Greece Author(s): Dina Vaiou and Ares Kalandides Source: Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, Vol. 31, No. 3, Special Issue Title: Housing and community needs and social innovation responses in time of crisis (September 2016), pp. 457-470 Published by: Springer Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43907396 Accessed: 09-05-2020 10:35 UTC

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms

Springer is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Housing and the Built Environment

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms J Hous and the Built Environ (2016) 31:457-470 DOI 10.1007/sl0901-015-9468-z (D CrossMark ARTICLE

Practices of collective action and solidarity: reconfigurations of the public space in crisis-ridden Athens, Greece

Dina Vaiou1 ■ Ares Kalandides2

Published online: 26 July 2015 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Abstract The multifaceted crisis that has hit Greece in the past years has had severe consequences on people's everyday lives. In an attempt to cope with, and also resist dramatic changes in lifestyles, incomes and welfare, several initiatives have sprung up all over the country at many different scales, with diverse targets, varying actors and out- comes. Many people have abandoned their privacy to participate in public actions of solidarity, in initiatives that often involve new or alternative uses of urban space. It seems that practices of solidarity and claims around material spaces are becoming an important "laboratory" for shaping a different public sphere. The paper aimed to reflect on the ways in which such practices and claims arise and develop; how different types of rights and forms of doing politics are enacted in situations of crisis and deprivation; and finally how such practices reconfigure public space. We draw from relevant examples of initiatives in Athens, in order to discuss acts of coping and resistance and to reflect on the extent to which the concept of social innovation may provide fruitful insights into our discussion.

Keywords Collective action • Crisis • Public space • Social innovation • Solidarity initiatives

1 Introduction

Following the multifaceted crisis that has befallen Greece and the policies adopted to counter it, an ever-growing number of people are being excluded from significant demo- cratic rights and social services which constituted the public sphere "as-we-knew-it".

E3 Dina Vaiou [email protected]

1 Department of Urban and Regional Planning, National Technical University of Athens, Patíssion 42, 10682 Athens, Greece

2 Inpolis, Berlin, Germany

^ Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 458 D. Vaiou, A. Kalandides

Exclusions are more pronounced in urban areas, including Athens, where basic services like health or education are severely downgraded or no longer delivered, while democratic functions and labour rights are curtailed. In the dramatic context of living shaped by the crisis and austerity policies, a wide range of citizen initiatives have emerged since 2011. Most of these initiatives organised around the slogan " nobody alone in the crisis " and started with actions of solidarity to meet day-to-day survival needs. Yet at the same time, they posed broader and longer-term questions of how to live together, how to perceive and claim social needs, how to deliver goods and services, how to resist austerity, how to participate and do politics, and a lot more. In this sense, we may identify in them seeds of innovation in social relations, as M. Garcia and S. Vicari discuss it in the third part of the Introduction to this special issue (see also Moulaert et al. 2013b). The problems of poverty, deprivation and multiple exclusions, which lie behind these initiatives, lead people who engage in them to develop actions, practices of solidarity and strategies to cope with and resist the crisis. Such actions, which the initiatives themselves define as "solidarity acts", share many of the features which have been analysed as "social innovation" and conceptualised as part of social mobilisation to counteract social exclu- sion, the expulsion of entire social groups and the dismantling of the welfare state, while attempting to forge social ties in a fragmented society (Garcia and Vicari this issue; also Sassen 2014). Social innovation as an analytical concept is indeed "about addressing problems, improving the human condition, satisfying the needs of humans, setting agendas for a better future, and so on" (Moulaert et al. 2013, p. 17). As a path-dependent and contextual concept, to which we come back later in our paper, it sounds promising for making sense with such different types of collective action as the ones we discuss here. It is, however, necessary to clarify from the start some of the particularities of the local solidarity initiatives that we discuss here. These initiatives sprang in the aftermath of the "indignant squares" mobilisations (spring-summer 201 1) (Kaika and Karaliotas 2014) in a context of a severe humanitarian crisis, elements of which we present in the next section of the paper. In their vast majority, they are voluntary and spontaneous associations of individuals, often already active locally or in broader movements (e.g. migrant support, feminist groups, left or anarchist groups) and, in principle, struggle for the time when their existence will no longer be necessary.1 In this sense, they cannot easily be included in debates about public-private partnerships, community consultation and other forms of citizen participation selectively encouraged from above (Silver et al. 2010). As a result of their constitution and operation, it is only indirectly possible to discuss solidarity initiatives in the context of multi-level governance (Eizaguirre Anglada et al. 2012). Hostile as they are to what they consider "institutionalisation", they are not in any way involved in combining their activities with top-down policies (with the possible exception of social clinics, one of which we discuss in Sect. 3 below) or negotiating with local or other levels of government (Leubolt et al. 2007); on the other hand, having no legal status, they sit uncomfortably in approaches to civil society which usually include NGOs and other forms of citizens' associations with some form of legal status (Kazepov 2010). Few initiatives could form part of an emerging plural or social economy (e.g. employment collectives under the recent law on "social and solidarity enterprises") (Hart et al. 2010); the majority, however, are hybrid forms that do not permit clear categorisations or explanations in the above context.

1 High hopes have arisen in this direction with the advent of the Left in government (January 2015). The crisis, however, is deep, and austerity measures have a long way to go given the ongoing negotiations with the EU, the ECB and the IMF.

Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Practices of collective action and solidarity... 459

The aim of this paper is to draw from our research on the spread and operation of citizen initiatives in Athens and reflect on the practices of survival, solidarity and resistance, which seem ultimately to reshape the public sphere in the crisis and beyond. We are interested in particular in the spatial imprint of these practices and the different scales at which they develop: from individual buildings, to the neighbourhood, to city and coun- trywide actions. In Sect. 2, we discuss aspects of the crisis in Greece and as far as possible Athens, where the effects of the crisis are also evident in the built environment. We then focus on the practices of resistance and solidarity as they have emerged in Athens and examine three cases with different scale and scope of action (Sect. 3). In final Sect. 4, we discuss solidarity initiatives as responses to the multiple exclusions and extreme poverty resulting from austerity policies and as socio-spatial practices contributing to reconfigure a prospective public sphere, different from the one delimited by the crisis. The short lifespan of most initiatives (between 3 and 4 years) and the depth of the current crisis do not permit forecasts about their future. Finally, we come back to the concept of social innovation and the ways in which it is pertinent to our subject matter.

2 Crisis as exclusion(s)

It is by now well known that, since May 2010, Greece implements austerity measures, following the clauses of successive International Monetary Fund (IMF)/European Union (EU)/European Central Bank (ECB) bailout packages whose stated goal is to reinstate the competitiveness of the economy. Five years into the crisis, it is more than evident, even to non-experts, that the recurrent memoranda and implementation laws are not adequate tools to treat the crisis. On the contrary, they lead to deep recession and to a multifaceted crisis (financial, social and democratic), while the promised "salvation" is postponed to an unknown future.2 Austerity programs and measures seem to plunge Greece (and the entire European South) into a vicious circle of rising unemployment and inflation, shrinking incomes and deep impoverishment. We summarise below some of the effects of these programs. In the past 5 years, GDP per capita has fallen cumulatively by 23.6 %, dropping to 1964 levels after two decades of real convergence with the EU15 mean. The purchase power of wage earners plummeted by 37.2 %, the volume of production fell by 23.5 %, and demand dropped to 1999 levels. Prices of everyday items, however, remain high, as a result of privatisations, VAT increases (from 9 and 13 to 23 %), and the operation of monopoly chains in many areas of food retailing (Toussaint 2012; INE/GSEE 2013). Under such circumstances, extreme cases of poverty, including lack of adequate food, access to electricity, heating and water supply, are no surprise. In a move of recognition for the urgent need for action, the newly elected government elevated "social solidarity" to a national aim, setting up a section in the "Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Social Solidarity", whose first piece of legislation dealt with such signs of humanitarian crisis (N4320, Government Gazette No. 29, 19/03/201 5).3 The data published by the Eurostat, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (EL.STAT) and other government sources about unemployment, service cuts and poverty are not available

2 Among the many contributions to the ongoing debate, see Lapavitsas and Kaltenbrunner (2010), Varo- ufakis (2011), Douzinas (2013), Tsakalotos and Laskos (2013). 3 Between 20 April and 20 May 2015, 261,423 households applied for support under the auspices of this law (newspaper Avgi, 24/5/2015).

<0 Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 460 D. Vaiou, A. Kalandides

below regional scale. Salaries, on the other hand, are regulated at national level and have suffered significant cuts, carrying along a number of benefits (for unemployment, preg- nancy, disease, overtime) and contributing to the reduction in pensions. Minimum salaries fell from 751.5€ in 2009 to 586. 1€ (before tax) in 2013 (and 510.9€ for people under 25 years of age). Women's salaries are at 78 % of those of men, and women are further discriminated against by the rise of pension age and a new system of calculating pensions based on the earnings of the entire working life (INE/GSEE 2013). Infringements are frequently reported, while there is a significant proportion of employed women and men, local and migrant, who work without any kind of contract.4 Registered unemployment has reached 1.348.742 people (or 26 % of economically active population) in 2013, 63 % of whom are long-term unemployed (36 % for over 2 years). Following the austerity programs since 2010, they receive no unemployment benefits after 12 months. In 2009, women's unemployment was 12 % and men's did not exceed 5.0 %. By 2013, these figures have reached 31.0 and 24.7 %, respectively. But the figures look more disastrous if one looks at the young age groups: among women under 25 years of age, unemployment went up from 36.6 % in 2009 to 65.0 % in 2013; the respective figures for men rose from 12.1 to 52 % (EL.STAT, Labour Force Surveys 2009; 2013).5 Slight improvements are registered in the last semester of 2014. Skyrocketing unemployment, along with severe cuts in salaries and pensions, tax increases and a series of reforms in labour and pension rights has led to dramatic growth of poverty, with 23 % of the population under the poverty line, while the so-called new poor (or employed poor) increased by 43 %Ē This is not a surprise since 75.600 firms of various sizes have closed down, investment in productive activities fell by 51 %, while 1 17 billion euros have fled out of individual bank accounts towards foreign banks (Bank of Greece 2013). In addition, and in line with the neoliberal repertoire of deregulation and downsizing of the state, social security and pension systems, public health, all levels of public education, public and municipal services for children, for the elderly, for the disabled, for the homeless, etc. face problems of basic operation, following severe budget cuts, reduction of staff, dismantling or merging structures. Part of the building stock which housed such services is now empty and deteri- orating; examples here include merging hospitals and health clinics, closing schools and day care centres, as well as empty flats and shops. Parallel to these developments, we should underline the alarming rise of the neo-nazi group "Golden Dawn" which has gained a strong representation in Parliament (7 % of the vote and 21 deputies in the June 2012 elections - 6.28 % and 17 deputies in the January 2015 elections)6 and an even stronger presence in some neighbourhoods of Athens where it has systematically been claiming territoriality and control over space (Kandylis 2013). The insecurities of income cuts and precarity are aggravated by everyday aggressions, violent attacks against migrants, gay men, women, left parliamentarians and local activists and other non-conforming individuals and groups,7 leading to a gradual shrinkage of public space and participation.

4 However, lowering salaries and pensions is one of the major areas of pressure of the IMF, EU, ECB to the new government in the context of the current negotiations. 5 EL.STAT publishes only aggregate data by region, according to which the rate of unemployment in Greater Athens is 28 % in 2013 (www.statistics.gr). 6 For a discussion of the rise of the extreme right in Greece and particularly Golden Dawn, see Psarras 2012. 7 Material has been drawn from the Internet postings of the party itself (www.cryshavgh.com) which has a special page on women. There is a noticeable reduction in such postings, as well as cancellation of most aggressive ones since summer 2014 when many of the leaders of Golden Dawn are brought to trial.

Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Practices of collective action and solidarity... 461

Neoliberal reforms and austerity programs target disproportionately urban areas with the dismantling of public services and infrastructures and the shrinkage of public employment. It is in cities where "austerity bites", as J. Peck (2012: 629) argues. Women and men who live in cities, precarious low-income workers, lone parents, people living on benefits, students, marginal groups, recent migrants and many more find themselves excluded from bearable urban livelihoods - and this is already visible in many neigh- bourhoods of big cities and of Athens in particular in many aspects of everyday life including the urban built environment. Exclusions are thus articulated at several levels: probably most striking is the exclusion from the labour market , which has hit an extremely high number of people, yet has disproportionate effects on young people and women. As it has often been argued, the labour market is much more than just a means for earning money. It is a space of inter- action and integration, of social exchange and human dignity. The effects of unemploy- ment in a generalised feeling of uselessness and exclusion are mirrored in the increasing number of suicides and depression cases.8 Exclusion from basic public services is a direct result of the dismantling of the public sector combined with the aforementioned frightening rise in poverty. A growing number of people are excluded from care and health services - but also from education and cultural resources - and more than 2 million Greeks are under the poverty line. Exclusion from public goods is a direct result of the huge wave of privatisation (of amenities, land, buildings, etc.) that has been central to the neoliberal restructuring of the state. Exclusion from housing may take different forms: for many small owners and loan holders, it means outright homelessness; for others - mostly, but not exclusively younger people - it may mean that they become or remain dependent on their family and live with them, with multiple immediate and long-term consequences. Finally, exclusion from many public spaces (in the most material sense) is an everyday reality for many individuals and groups of urban residents who fear aggression and violence from Golden Dawn as well as from violent practices of the police. Migrants, gay men, left-wing activists and many more are among the prime victims.

3 Practices of resistance and solidarity: reconfiguring public space

In many cities and around the country, however, citizen initiatives have emerged, forms of collective action and solidarity with varying goals, participants and results, aiming to cope with or resist crisis and austerity (hereafter "solidarity initiatives"). In conditions of dis- solution of income and social service structures, such initiatives contribute in many ways to fill significant "gaps". It is important to underline here that these initiatives vary enor- mously according to the needs they aim to cover, the relations they develop among their members, the groups they target and the way in which they approach issues of redistri- bution (Adam 2012). At the same time, these and other types of bottom-up initiatives are subject to serious critiques, as possible vehicles of further neoliberal attacks on the welfare state (Fyfe 2005; Rosol 2011). According to critics, activists or participants in solidarity initiatives mitigate the most brutal effects of neoliberal policies through unpaid and vol- untary labour, thus contributing to perpetuate the system. Such criticisms, although they

8 EL.STAT reports 33 % increase in deaths due to suicide between 2009 and 2013 (from 391 reported cases in 2009 to 533 in 2013), which makes suicide the second most significant cause of "violent death" after car accidents.

Ô Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 462 D. Vaiou, A. Kalandides

point to important contradictions, often underestimate or ignore the degree of destruction that has taken place in Greece and the level of bare necessity that needed to be covered on the spot and not in some more opportune future moment. As we show in this paper, they also underestimate the momentum of social and political interaction that solidarity ini- tiatives are capable of creating at any given moment. In the case of Athens, solidarity initiatives have developed on a background already undermined by cuts and austerity and cannot fulfil a role of substitute structures for shrinking and/or completely cancelled social services when there is not even a minimum of generalised public procurement. On the other hand, formed as they are by people who are already hit by the crisis, their survival on a meso- or longer-term basis is problematic without significant support, economic or other (for a review of debates, see Martinelli 2013). It is therefore important to delve into this "archipelago of social experiences" (Espinoza 2013) and try to understand their scope, internal structure and aims. As we can see from our own interview material, people active in solidarity initiatives aim for the time when they will not have to deliver the goods and services that they deliver now, for when the effects of austerity will not be as destructive and when the legacy of politicisation and participation will be the positive remainder, as prefigured by the case of Embros below. In this sense, it is important to evaluate their contribution in reconfiguring urban public space and active citizen participation. Table 1 is a summary of our research so far and an attempt to group forms of collective action in categories that will help us come to grips with the priorities and practices developing "from below". The table is based on indexing of newspaper clippings about "solidarity initiatives" and forms of "collective action" from five newspapers ( Avgi , Epohi, Elef the roty pia, Efimerida ton Syntakton, Kathimerini) from 2011 to 2014 and from relevant internet sites (www.solidarity4all.gr and sites of particular initiatives) and remains open to new additions/removals. Particular initiatives from different "categories", including the ones cited in this paper, have been studied in more detail through observation of (and sometimes participation in) their activities, informal discussions with members and at least one formal interview per case. However, it is important to underline that these initiatives cannot be set in neat categories, as most of them engage in more than one type of activities. At the same time, Table 1 is indicative of the vast range of practices and initiatives and their geographical distribution in the metropolitan area of Athens, as it includes collective action for immediate day-to-day survival (like soup kitchens, social groceries, time banks, communal cooking, exchange networks); initiatives for the provision of basic services (most prominently social medical clinics and pharmacies); schemes for educational support and cultural events; actions based on broader political claims and practices of living together (e.g. social spaces, local assemblies, advice and support centres, occupied public spaces or "no intermediaries" initiatives); and attempts of making a living collectively (e.g. employment collectives like cooperative cafes and groceries, creative cooperatives for music, photography, software production, translation, publishing, etc.). Equally broad is the profile of actors involved at different stages: on the one hand, people with better economic, social or cultural resources, but on the other, also indi- viduals and groups who put in time and passion to keep these projects going without seeking front-stage visibility. Among the many people involved, gender, age and class differences are pronounced and we can detect scepticism towards political parties and party politics, although many participants are members and or supporters of left-wing

Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Practices of collective action and solidarity... 463

Table 1 Solidarity initiatives in Athens: coping with/resisting the crisis

Type of activities (what) Where (in Greater Athens)

Food, Soup kitchens Nea Ionia, Keratsini, Elliniko-Argyroupoli, subsistence Social groceries Saronikos, Petroupoli, Ag. Anarghyroi- Food packs to school children Kamatero, Halandri, Piraeus, Philothei- Psychico, Elefsina Shipyards, Peristeri- Bournazi, Kifisia, Byronas, Dafni- Ymittos, Zografou, Fyli, Tavros Municipality of Athens: Exarcheia, students of Law School, Neos Kosmos, Kolonos, Polygono-Ghyzi, Pagrati, Mets Health Social medical clinics Elliniko, Helioupolis, Nea Ionia, Byronas, Social pharmacies Piraeus, Aegaleo, Kifisia, Peristeri- Doctors' initiatives Kipoupoli, Ag. Anarghyroi, Nea Smyrni NGOs Municipality of Athens: "Anoixti Poli (Open City)", Babel in Kypseli, Pefkakia, 7th municipal district, Patissia "Emphasis" initiative of Greeks from abroad Education Free courses, teaching assistance to school Piraeus, Nikaia-Rentis, Byronas, Haidari, children, Greek language for migrants, Nea Smyrni, Zografou-NTUA students, languages, music, athletics Petroupoli, Aegaleo, Ag. Dimitrios, Metamorfosi, Marousi Municipality of Athens: Academia Platonos, Vrysaki, Neos Kosmos, Treis Gefyres Local teachers' unions (ELME) Exchange "Without intermediaries", Ag. Anarghyroi-Kamatero, Moschato, networks free exchange bazaars, time banks Elliniko, Ag. Dimitrios, Zografou, Piraeus, Haidari, Kaisariani, Artemida- Spata, Nea Erythrea, Kifisia, Dionyssos, Halandri, Ag. Paraskevi, Pallini, Lykovrissi, Holargos-Papagou, Moschato, Galatsi, Perama, Petroupoli, Marousi, Kallithea, Peristeri-Lofos Aximatikon, Byronas, Ilion Municipality of Athens: Neos Kosmos, Petralona, Syggrou-Fix, Kypseli, Polygono-Ghyzi, Exarcheia, Syntagma, Kolonos "European Women's Network" Solidarity atéiaa, local assemblies, cultural Haidari, Nikaia, Peristeri, Ag. Paraskevi, networks and activities, legal advice, migrant support, Perama, Fiadelphia-Halkidona, Dafni- social spaces elderly and children care Ymittos, Keratsini-Drapetsona, [organising: free exchange networks, food Helioupolis, Kallithea, Neo Psychiko- distribution and social groceries, Filothei-Psychiko, Vari-Voula- teaching assistance! Vouliagmeni, Petroupoli, Artemida (Loutsa), Kaisariani, Pallini, Peristeri, Elliniko Municipality of Athens: "Anoixti Poli (Open City)", Kypseli (Agora and Myrmighi), Neos Kosmos, "Steki Metanaston" (Migrant Support Initiative), Kolonos- Sepolia-Academia Platonos, Koukaki- Plaka, Exarcheia-Neapoli

^ Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 464 D. Vaiou, A. Kalandides

Table 1 continued

Type of activities (what) Where (in Greater Athens)

Employment Coffee shops and restaurants, creative Keratsini, Zografou, Elliniko, collectives laboratories (photography, design, Municipality of Athens: Thissio, Neapoli, theatre, music, etc.), open software, Syntagma, Pagrati, Psirri, Koukaki, computer programming, courier services, Academia Platonos, Kato Petralona Web radio, technicians' collectives, "Efimerida ton Syntakton" newspaper translation "Empros" collective Occupied Neighbourhood parks, "botanical garden" public (urban agriculture), collective spaces spaces

Sources : see footnote 5

parties and left-wing and anarchist groups.9 The operation of solidarity initiatives seems to create new spaces of congregation and contact among participants - an emerging type of public space, local but also city-wide, and at the same time a "laboratory" for a different public sphere where people claim their right of partici- pation for themselves and for others through practices of survival, resistance and solidarity. Some of the initiatives are mostly local in scale, or started as such: regular actions in a public square (e.g. food distribution) or in a building given out, rented or occupied for the purposes of the initiative. Others have been supra-local from the start both in terms of the types of actions and in terms of the targeted groups. However, the issue of spatial scale is more complicated: it depends on the particular focus and activity and has evolved through time, as initiatives network and establish contacts with each other. For example, direct contacts of a social grocery with food producers across the country cross over the "local" as well as the boundaries of a system of food distribution based on intermediaries. In a similar vein, local cafes and groceries extend their activities across scales as they attract customers from all over the city and make their provisions from similarly minded pro- ducers across the country. Social pharmacies and medical clinics started as local services and gradually extended to broader spatial scales, as increasing numbers of people lapsed out of their entitlement to health services; some of them, including the one we present below, have established European and international contacts through appeals and cam- paigns for medicine and equipment. In the remainder of this section, we discuss three concrete examples which are indicative of the diverse actions, the different actors, the aspects of the crisis they target and the scales at which practices extend. Moreover, they are examples of how the urban built environment becomes a resource in the development of each initiative. In Sect. 4, we comment on these examples and come back to the issue of social innovation.

9 However, after extensive debates and a broad Assembly of the Initiatives in November 2012, many initiatives are networked through and supported by the "Solidarity for All" hub, which is set up by the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), whose deputies in the Parliament contribute part of their salary to this purpose (www.solidarity4all.gr). With SYRIZA in government since January 2015, the relationship of solidarity initiatives with the hub is a matter of intense debate.

<0 Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Practices of collective action and solidarity... 465

3.1 "Myrmigi" (http://tomyrmigi.blogspot.gr)

"Myrmigi" ("the ant") is a solidarity initiative in the 6th Municipal Community of Athens,10 set up in December 2012. The 6th Municipal Community is a very densely built and populated part of the city, where a high proportion of low-income people live, both migrants and locals. In some of its neighbourhoods, "Golden Dawn" has been claiming territoriality through an increasing number of racist and homophobic attacks, generally tolerated by the local police station (Kandylis 2013). The premises of "Myrmigi" itself were also victim of such practices in July 2013, when members of "Golden Dawn" threw flammable liquid through its door and set fire to it (reported in newspaper Kathimerini, 12 July 2013). "Myrmigi" was set up by engaged local residents who identify themselves as "people of next door who believe that only all together, united and in solidarity, we will be able to face the enormous problems of the crisis". Its main principles include, on the one hand, solidarity "by all for all" without discrimination and exclusions and, on the other, direct participation in decision-making by the same people who participate and support practical needs. The initiative operates a small space in an old neighbourhood building, the "anthill" as they call it, which has been repaired by the activists themselves and is run by the assembly of participants, which convenes once a month, and by a coordinating group of about 15 people who meet every week. It operates as a local open space and cooperates with other actions and initiatives in the area. Its activities include food distribution to about 1000 poverty-stricken households; food is collected through individual offers but also by prompting people who go to shop in the local supermarkets to "buy something for Myrmigki as well", by asking local taverns to give food for free, etc. and is then packed in bags ("sakkoules") which have become an emblematic item of food distribution by solidarity initiatives. Myrmigki also organises clothes and shoes bazaars, operates a lending library as well as a small children's play area for which they collect toys and children's books. In their premises, they also organise cultural activities (film and theatre evenings, literature and music events, discussions) and from time to time parties to raise funds. Every Sunday, a market "without intermediaries" is held, as well as the "producers' casserole" (communal meal). They also plan to organise teaching assistance for primary school children and consultation with volunteer psychol- ogists and social workers. According to L.S. (a woman activist in the coordinating group, interviewed in June 2014), "...this is an area where many people are hard hit by the crisis. As time goes by, fewer people are able to contribute [foodstuffs and other things] and they contribute less" - which poses difficulties in terms of what the "anthill" can then distribute. The network has expanded in the 2 years of its activity and plays a very important role in the area as a meeting/reference point. In many ways, its premises and its activities constitute a new public space in the neighbourhood, working on the idea of collectively facing the hardships of the crisis. Activists, however, are not certain as to what extent people who are very hard hit by the crisis participate (e.g. those who live in flats dis- connected from the electricity and water network, those unable to pay their rent, long-term unemployed, etc.).

10 The municipality of Athens is administratively divided into seven Municipal Communities.

Ô Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 466 D. Vaiou, A. Kalandides

3.2 Hellinikon social medicai clinic and social pharmacy (MKIE) (www. mkiellinikou.org)

In September 201 1, a group of 15 doctors practicing in the area of Hellinikon, in the SE of the metropolitan area where the former airport of Athens used to be - itself a big stake with regard to its selling out - proposed to set up a Social Medical Clinic for people who have lost access to health care and other forms of social assistance. The municipality of Hel- linikon, which had at the time a leftist mayor and a very active social service department, agreed to combine efforts with the initiative and offered the premises for it. A social pharmacy was added shortly afterwards and later a dental clinic with 16 volunteer dentists. Until now, the whole initiative operates from a small building complex in the area of the former airport, which has been repaired and upgraded by volunteers.11 The services of MKIE are organised in 16 shifts of 2-4 h, permitting it to operate full time 6 days a week. More than 200 doctors from all medical specialties are now part of a network of volunteers, each of whom offers for free 2-4 h once or twice per week. They see, usually in the premises of MKIE, patients who are uninsured or have lapsed out of the health insurance system, unemployed people, low-income pensioners - and combinations of these; they are linked with other social medical clinics across Greater Athens and develop agreements with public and private hospitals to which they refer patients who need medical tests or need to be hospitalised. The hospitals which are part of these agreements see such patients once a week after hours. The pharmacy is provisioned by donations from Greece and abroad, and its appeals through the internet are met with wide response. However, they do not cover needs for very expensive/special treatments, like cancer drugs. It has to be underlined that the MKIE accepts only donations in kind (not money). The initiative is managed by the assembly of volunteers who meet regularly and by an administrative secretariat which facilitates the day-to-day work (keeps appointments with the doctors and dentists, delivers medicines, etc.). All participants are volunteers, i.e. they are not paid for the time and effort they contribute, and consider the MKIE as a "structure of need" which "will continue to operate only as long as society needs us", as K.P., one of the volunteers, told us. Around them, a large network of volunteers organises campaigns to collect medicines, baby milk and other materials; to this end, yearly bazaars and other fund-raising activities are organised. What is particularly interesting for our discussion here is how those involved in the MKIE practice ideas about an improved operation of a future, reformed national health system, not only in terms of the services provided but also in terms of the relationships of providers and recipients of those services. The Medical Clinic thus becomes a public space of deliberation for a redefinition of the public sphere at a much larger scale than the area of its immediate action. As G.V., one of the initiators of the Social Clinic, has mentioned in interviews and public discussions: "We try to cater for immediate needs but also to 'imagine' what a future Public Health System should be like; because our aim is to move to a time when Social Clinics will not be necessary".

3.3 "Embros", free self-managed theatre front (www.embros.gr)

"Embros" (in Greek "Forward") is the name given to a building, which used to house a now defunct newspaper of the same name. It was built in the 1930s in the modernist style

1 1 The upcoming sale of the former airport, along with the change of leadership in the municipality of Hellinikon, poses problems for the operation of the Social Clinic, despite the dire needs and the full support of its beneficiaries.

^ Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Practices of collective action and solidarity... 467 and is situated in Psiri, a former manufacturing area at the heart of the historic centre of Athens, which has become a major pole of youth night life since the 1980s. The listed building, property of the Greek state, was used as a theatre for two decades, after the newspaper ceased to circulate in 1985 and was subsequently abandoned, after the death of the director and actor who initiated the theatre. In November 2011, a group of artists (mostly actors) that go by the name of "The Mavili Collective", supported by the Psiri Residents' Initiative, organised a 12-day cultural programme of reactivation of the by then derelict building.12 The programme included theatre and music performances, film screenings, arts classes, political debates, etc. As E.Y., one of the Embros activists reports, this mostly cultural initiative "took a political stance from the very beginning, opening itself to and embracing the diversity that is to be found in Athens": discussions on urban governance by the Encounter Athens group, debates on cultural policy, art workshops for migrants and refugees, queer performances, discussion workshops, etc. Almost a year later, in October 2012, the owner (ET AD, Greek acronym for the Public Properties Company, i.e. the company set up by the Greek government with the purpose of "reforming" the use of national assets) demanded that the Mavili Collective evacuate "Embros" immediately. The initiators then mobilised national and international support to protect their space and initiative. In the midst of a wave of right-wing violence, state evictions and privatisations "Embros" became a symbol of resistance that attracted more radical political groups that had been evicted elsewhere (anarchists, squatters, etc.). An open assembly takes strategic decisions, while a monthly rotating management group deals with the day-to-day needs of the space. "Embros", which its initiators call a "free self- managed theatre front" :

...operates as an open cultural and social area that hosts performances, exhibitions, screenings, discussions and social activities, offering shelter to new groups that can not afford to pay the exorbitant market rents, but also creating its own actions. Its modus operandi is under continuous re-assessment so that it can perform better its cultural and social role as a public good in the heart of Athens. It has also branched out and maintains relationships with other open spaces, both in Greece and abroad, and has the support not only of other squats and social sites, but also of university departments and research centres in Greece and abroad.

By fall 2014, the building of Embros has passed in the hands of TAIPED (Greek acronym for the Hellenic Public Asset Development Fund, the state office responsible for selling off state property), and the evacuation decree still stands. Meanwhile, actions continue and so is the claim and challenge towards the constitution of a participative and open public space.

4 Practices of solidarity as claims to public space

The examples we have presented in the previous section of the paper are indicative of different types of initiatives from below. They have started to organise in the context of the current crisis, as ways to cope with the pressing needs caused by severe reductions in real incomes, unemployment and cuts in social service provision as well the multiple exclu- sions, from the labour market, from public services and goods, from housing, from public

12 Since the establishment of the 'Mavili Collective', many artist groups have reactivated abandoned industrial buildings, proposing an alternative model to the market-led culture scene of Athens (see, for example, newspaper A vgi, 12/10/2014, www.avgi.gr).

Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 468 D. Vaiou, A. Kalandides space. Beyond immediate needs, however, these initiatives have gradually transformed, creating spaces of active participation which tend to shape alternative ways of belonging and living together; and they have also contributed to initiate other actions elsewhere and create networks of solidarity. For some, this has been an organising principle from the start; for others, it has developed over time and through their everyday practices. In both cases, these initiatives have become a constitutive part of a rapidly transforming urban landscape in which people not only "receive" assistance and services but partake in reciprocal practices of coping/resisting - and devising socially innovative practices to do so. Solidarity actions, local cultural interventions, alternative practices in the domain of service provision and popular resistances multiply and, in many cases, connect partial or local demands with broader claims and political engagements. As many people become involved and politicised in often inconspicuous ways, the potential arises for a reconfig- uration of public space that may turn into the common space of a new public sphere , as Harvey (2012) argues in a different but related context: "[...] a clearer and broader definition of that public that not only can truly access so-called public space, but can also be empowered to create new common spaces for socialization and political action" (p. xvi). In other words, the spaces constituted through the practices described here go beyond issues of public accessibility - though we acknowledge the importance of the latter. They become spaces of the public sphere , spaces of socialisation and political action. Here, we follow thinkers like H. Lefebvre, D. Harvey, D. Massey and many others, who have written extensively on the material and social dimensions of space and on the links between public (material) space and the public sphere. Our understanding of space as contingent, con- stantly constituted and contested through social relations, allows for a co-conceptualisation of the two (for an extended discussion on the constitution of the public sphere and its relationship to the public space, see Vaiou and Kalandides 2009). Relationships with institutions at different scales (municipal, regional, state) are often controversial, as in many cases the latter are hard put to come to terms with "unauthorised" actors and non- codified practices. In some cases, local government is involved and supportive, like in our example from Hellinikon13; in other cases, it is hostile in both direct and indirect ways, like in our Embros example. However, the longer-term sustainability of these initiatives depends on the kinds of synergies with and support by the institutional context in which they develop (Garcia and Vicari this issue; see also Martinelli 2013; Moulaert et al. 2013a). This, however, is a topic of hard debate and conflict among those involved who, in many cases, see such synergies as an unacceptable compromise to the freedom and equality of direct participation and solidarity from below. The issue of longer-term sustainability is a complex one for a number of reasons. First, several years into the crisis there are no signs that it is going to end soon; it seems therefore that solidarity initiatives are going to be necessary for many years to come. Secondly, the three examples we presented in the previous section of the paper answer to different needs at different degrees of urgency: it would indeed be a positive development if the reasons of existence of the social medical clinic of Hellinikon ceased to exist. On the other hand, the Embros initiative is linked to citizens' movements and to direct participation and may have an important role to play in urban politics beyond the current crisis. In the same direction, Myrmigki may develop more as a local public space with social and cultural activities rather than food distribution.

13 It is uncertain, however, how the political change in the leadership of the municipality after the 2014 municipal elections will affect this relationship.

^ Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Practices of collective action and solidarity... 469

As we already mentioned, practices like the ones we discuss in this paper bear many resemblances to the vast variety of examples discussed as "social innovation" in recent debates. The relevant literature evolves around the institutional and policy context and the deficiencies of state provision in terms of material services and/or cultural recognition as factors which give rise to innovation in the first place (MacCallum 2013, p. 343). "[Social Innovation] occurs because socially innovative actions, strategies, practices and processes arise whenever problems of poverty, exclusion, segregation and deprivation or opportunities for improving living conditions cannot find satisfactory solutions in the 'institutionalized field' of public and private action" (Moulaert et al. 201 3a, p. 2). In the less favourable context of crisis-stricken Athens, however, social innovation seems to take place through a process of struggle where resource constraints and unmet needs have taken calamitous dimensions. As our examples indicate, people initiate and/or participate in practices of solidarity for different reasons and often devise extraordinarily creative, socially innovative and counter hegemonic practices. Even though their goals and visions may be originally clear (e.g. personal needs or political activism) and their scope rather local and immediate, they are gradually transformed, developed and broadened in the process of interaction with others. Although the neighbourhood commonly emerges as the privileged space of action, the linkages among spatial scales are quite intricate and a much broader space is constituted through interconnections and networking. The neighbourhood, however, as we have argued elsewhere, "is a privileged place of the every-day and an arena for claims to the city - a set of resources through which people lead their lives" (Kalandides and Vaiou 2012, p. 263). Collective practices of solidarity and survival, as we have seen them in our examples, depend on these resources. The ability to access, draw upon and protect them defines very much the outcome of the actions both in the short and the long term. "Social innovation means innovation in social relations [...] As such the term refers not just to particular actions, but also to the mobilisation-participation processes and to the outcome of actions which lead to improvements in social relations" (Moulaert et al. 2013a p. 2). The actions described in this paper may not in themselves be new or innovative, but the intensity of mobilisation and participation, as it is seen in this period of crisis, is indeed a novelty for recent years. What we do experience are reconfigurations of public spaces through practices of solidarity, resistance against multiple exclusions and a broad range of political claims. They redefine in practice the concept of "public goods", including the "urban commons", as Harvey (2012) discusses them, and finally the public space/public sphere. Such reconfigurations may have their specific loci, but as already mentioned, they connect the latter with actions at many different geographical scales. By transcending the local, in the narrowest sense of the term, they gain momentum that may be vital for their survival. Whether such place-specific improvements in social relations are transient phenomena or will have broader and long-lasting effects remains to be seen. It is very probable - and hopeful - but still too recent to draw definitive conclusions and projections into a multiply uncertain future.

References

Adam, S. (2012). On social economy and social antagonism, www.enthemata.wordpress.com/201 2/04/01/ adam Bank of Greece (2013). Report of the Governor of the Bank of Greece. www.bankofgreece.gr/BogEkdoseis/ ekthdkth2013.pdf Douzinas, K. (2013). Philosophy and resistance in the crisis . Greece and the future of Europe. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 470 D. Vaiou, A. Kalandides

Eizaguirre Anglada, S., Prádel Miquel, M., Terrones, A., Martinez-Celorrio, X., & Garcia, M. (2012). Multilevel governance and social cohesion: Bringing back conflict in citizenship practices. Urban Studies, 49(9), 1855-1872. Espinoza, V. (2013). Local Associations in Chile: Social innovation in a mature neoliberal society. In F. Moulaert, D. MacCallum, A. Mehmood, & A. Hamdouch (Eds.), The international handbook on social innovation. Collective Action, social learning and transdisciplinary research (pp. 397-411). Chel- tenham: Ed. Elgar. Fyfe, N. (2005). Making space for "neo-communitarianism" ? Antipode, 37(3), 536-557. Hart, K., Laville, J. L., & Cattani, A. D. (Eds.). (2010). The human economy. Cambridge: Polity Press. Harvey, D. (2012). Rebel Cities. From the right to the city to the urban revolution. London, New York: Verso. INE/GSEE (Institute of Labour of the General Confederation of Trade Unions) (2013). Annual report 2013: The Greek economy and employment, www.inegsee.gr (in Greek). Kaika, M., & Karaliotas, L. (2014). The spatialization of democratic politics: Insights from the indignant squares. European Urban and Regional Studies, doi: 10.1 177/0969776414528928. Kalandides, A., & Vaiou, D. (2012). Ethnic neighbourhoods? Practices of belonging and claims to the city, European Urban and Regional Studies, i 9(3), 254-266. Kandylis, G. (2013). The space and time of migrants' rejection in the centre of Athens. In Th Maloutas, G. Kandylis, M. Petrou, & N. Souliotis (Eds.), The centre of Athens as a political stake (pp. 53-87). Athens: National Centre of Social Research (in Greek). Kazepov, Y. (Ed.). (2010). Rescaling social policies towards mulitlevel governance in Europe. Fernham: Ashgate. Lapavitsas, C, Kaltenbrunner, A., Labrinidis, G. et al. (2010). The eurozone between austerity and default. Research on Money and Finance (RMF) Occasional Report, September. http://www. researchonmoneyandfinance.org Leubolt, B, Novy, A. & Bernstein, B. (2007) Governance and democracy, Survey paper No. WP1.1, Katarsis, Vienna. MacCallum, D. (2013). Introduction: The institutional space for social innovation. In F. Moulaert, D. MacCallum, A. Mehmood, & A. Hamdouch (Eds.), The international handbook on social innovation. Collective action, social learning and transdisciplinary research (pp. 343-345). Cheltenham: Ed. Elgar. Martinelli, F. (2013). Learning from case studies of social innovation in the field of social services: creatively balancing top-down universailsm with bottom-up democracy. In E. Moulaert, D. MacCal- lum, A. Mehmood, & A. Hamdouch (Eds.), The international handbook on social innovation. The international handbook on social innovation (pp. 346-360). Cheltenham: Ed. Elgar. Moulaert, F., MacCallum, D., & Hillier, J. (2013a). Social innovation: Intuition, precept, concept, theory and practice. In F. Moulaert, D. MacCallum, A. Mehmood, & A. Hamdouch (Eds.), The international handbook on social innovation. Collective action, social learning and transdisciplinary research (pp. 13-24). Cheltenham: Ed. Elgar. Moulaert, F., MacCallum, D., Mehmood, A., & Hamdouch, A. (Eds.). (2013b). The international handbook on social innovation. Collective Action, Social Learning and Transdisciplinary Research. Cheltenham: Ed. Elgar. Moulaert, F., MacCallum, D., Mehmood, A., & Hamdouch, A. (2013c). General introduction: The return of social innocation as a scientific concept and a social practice. In F. Moulaert, D. MacCallum, A. Mehmood, & A. Hamdouch (Eds.), The international handbook on social innovation. Collective action, social learning and transdisciplinary research (pp. 1-6). Cheltenham: Ed. Elgar. Peck, J. (2012). Austerity urbanism. American cities under extreme economy. City, 16(6), 626-655. Psarras, D. (2012). The black bible of the Golden Dawn. Athens: Polis, in Greek. Rosol, M. (2011). Community volunteering as neoliberal strategy? Green Space Production m Berlin. Antipode, 44(1), 239-257. Sassen, S. (2014). Expulsions: Brutality and complexity in the global economy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Silver, H., Scott, A., & Kazepov, J. (2010). Participation in urban contention and deliberation. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 34(3), 453-477. Toussaint, E. (2012). Greece. In E. Papadopoulou & G. Sakellandis (Eds.), The political economy of public debt and austerity in the EU (pp. 191-202). Athens: Nissos Publications and transform. Isakalotos, b., & Laskos, Ch. (2013). Crucible of Resistance. Greece, the Eurozone and the World Economy. London: Pluto Press. Vaiou, D., & Kalandides, A. (2009). Cities of 'Others': Access, contact and participation in everyday public spaces. Geographica Helvetica, 64( 1), 11-20. Varoufakis, Y. (2011). The global minotaur. London: Zed Books.

<Ēļ Springer

This content downloaded from 195.251.141.117 on Sat, 09 May 2020 10:35:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms