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UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Contesting national belonging: An established-outsider figuration on the margins of Thessaloniki, Greece Pratsinakis, E. Publication date 2013 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Pratsinakis, E. (2013). Contesting national belonging: An established-outsider figuration on the margins of Thessaloniki, Greece. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:30 Sep 2021 Manolis Pratsinakis Based on an ethnography of the relationship between Greek Manolis Pratsinakis immigrants from the former Soviet Union and native Greeks in a neighbourhood in Thessaloniki, Greece, this book enquires into the practical deployment of ideologies of national Contesting belonging in immigrant-native figurations. Breaking with those theoretical perspectives that either assume the nationalistic National standpoint or ignore it as if it did not matter, it aims to uncover, analyse and problematize the hegemonic power of ideologies Contesting National Belonging Belonging of national belonging in structuring immigrant-native relations. An established–outsider figuration on the margins of Thessaloniki, Greece University of Amsterdam Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research ISBN 978–94–6191–757–7 Contesting National Belonging An established–outsider figuration on the margins of Thessaloniki, Greece University of Amsterdam Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research Kloveniersburgwal 48 |1012 CX Amsterdam | The Netherlands Tel: +31-(0)20-525 2262 / 2745 Fax: +31-(0)20-525 2446 Email: [email protected] Url: http://www. http://aissr.uva.nl/ ii Contesting National Belonging An established–outsider figuration on the margins of Thessaloniki, Greece ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op donderdag 30 mei 2013, te 12:00 uur door Emmanouil Pratsinakis geboren te Panorama, Griekenland iii Promotiecommissie Promotor: Prof. dr. J.C. Rath Co-promotor: Dr. M.P Lindo Overige Leden: Dr. B. Kalir Prof. dr. M. A.F. Rutten Prof. dr. J.T. Sunier Prof. dr. H. Vermeulen Prof. dr. E. Voutira Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen Copyright © 2013 Pratsinakis Manolis (Emmanouil) Printed and bound by IPSKAMP DRUKKERS Cover design by backpacker.gr ISBN: 978-94-6191-757-7 iv Table of contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………………vii 1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................1 1.1 From assimilation to established–outsider figurations ........................................5 1.2 Research design and practice............................................................................18 2 Ideologies of Greekness ........................................................................................27 2.1 Greeks by descent.............................................................................................29 2.2 The Greek State and the ‘Greek World’...........................................................39 3 The Greek diaspora in the Soviet Union..............................................................45 3.1 Pontos and the origins of the Greek diaspora in the Soviet Union ...................45 3.2 Greeks in the Soviet Union..............................................................................50 3.3 The post-1989 migration ..................................................................................61 4 The context of reception.......................................................................................69 4.1 Co-ethnic migrations from the former Soviet Union ........................................69 4.2 Migration policy for FSU Greeks......................................................................78 5 Nikopoli, setting the scene....................................................................................93 5.1 Perceptions of non-residents.............................................................................93 5.2 Settling and accessing housing on the margins of Thessaloniki.........................97 6 ‘Soviet’ and Native Greek neighbours.................................................................121 6.1 Encounters in the neighbourhood..................................................................121 6.2 The stereotype of the aggressive ‘Russo-Pontic’ ...............................................145 6.3 Perceptions of criminality and neighbourhood stigmatization.........................157 7 Adopting and negating categories – (un)making groups and identities...............169 7.1 Contesting Greekness ....................................................................................169 7.2 Becoming Pontic............................................................................................196 8 Conclusion .........................................................................................................225 8.1 Outlining and explaining the figuration of Nikopoli ......................................226 8.2 Contesting national belonging: Immigrant–native relations as an established– outsider figuration ...............................................................................................238 Appendix..................................................................................................................243 Bibliography ...............................................................................................…………….254 Summary/Samenvatting.............................................................................................269 v Maps and tables Map 2.1 Territorial expansion of Greece 1832-1947 ................................................ 35 Map 3.1 Pontos and the migrations from Erzerum Vilayet....................................... 47 Map 3.2 The two major migration outflows from Pontos......................................... 49 Map 3.3 The Stalinist deportations to Central Asia.................................................. 56 Map 5.1 The expansion of Nikopoli........................................................................102 Map I The founding of Marioupol and the first migrations to the north Black sea.…..248 Map II Nikopoli’s location………………….………………………………………………………….…..249 Map III Segregation in Nikopoli……………………………………………………….…………………249 Table 2.1 Statuses related to Greekness and Greek citizenship ................................ 28 Table 3.1 The three major migration waves to Caucasus from Eastern Anatolia and Pontos ........................................................................................................................ 46 Table 3.2 Greeks living in the USSR in 1989 ........................................................... 66 Table 3.3 FSU Greek immigrants by registered place of origin – 2000 ................... 67 Table 3.4 Arrivals of Greeks from the former Soviet Union in Greece by year....... 68 Table I National, ethnic and religious minorities in Greece in 1928………………………..248 vi Acknowledgments Writing a PhD dissertation is a rather lonely enterprise, yet one that crucially depends on the advice, feedback, encouragement, support and inspiration one draws from other people. It is also long journey – a journey that begins even before one consciously takes the decision to embark on it. You pass along a chain of people and events that guide you on a certain pathway, and which eventually leads to the production of your book. Writing the acknowledgements section is possibly the happiest moment in this long journey – the moment you are finally able to express your gratitude to those who helped make your dissertation what it is, and who made it possible in the first place. Before I turn to the wonderful people I have encountered on my academic journey so far, I first take this opportunity to thank my parents Pavlo and Lamprini, from the bottom of my heart, and for everything; not only for infusing me with curiosity, the will to learn and a spirit of critical thinking, but most importantly for all those years of love and support. My engagement with the social sciences began during my studies in Geography at the University of the Aegean on the magical island of Lesvos. I wish to thank my teacher Lila Leontidou for enthusiastically dragging me into the world of social science, and my supervisor Dora Lafazani for shaping my academic interests in nationalism, ethnicity and migration.