This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ FORMS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOCIAL MOVEMENT IN GREECE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CRISIS Gaitanou, Eirini Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). 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Sep. 2021 Department of European and International Studies King's College London FORMS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOCIAL MOVEMENT IN GREECE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CRISIS Eirini Gaitanou Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) February 2016 1 ABSTRACT The object of this research consists in the various forms and features of social movements that have emerged in Greece during the current period of crisis, all evaluated as part of “the social movement as a whole”. The studied period spans from April 2010 to October 2011, and includes the emergence of different forms of mobilization (general and sectoral strikes, the “movement of the squares”, various forms of civil disobedience). The focus was placed on the forms of political participation and the transformation of the actors’ consciousness in relation to their participation and experience, in connection with (1) the objective conditions; (2) their own social position in society; and (3) their own conceptualization of the “political”. The development of new relations between people and politics as well as of various forms of political representation (existing and/or new ones) have been given special attention. Methodologically, this research focuses on two key points. The first concerns the theoretical context of social movements literature and its relevance to the Greek case, as well as the detailed study of the Greek social and political formation, of its class structure and of the crisis. The second point concerns the specific study of the social movement in Greece, including field research, and using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The sample was chosen according to purposeful sampling, in a way that provided the opportunity to investigate the forms and the effects of political participation. The criterion has been to interview people with little or no prior relationship with politics and activism. Since the focus is on the consciousness of participation and engagement as developed by the participants themselves, and the transformative effects of action upon them, the theoretical conclusions discuss the issue of subjectivity and class consciousness within specific conditions, in relation to the popular perception of the political. 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................. 2 List of acronyms and abbreviations..............................................................................................5 Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................... 7 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER I: SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORY AND RESEARCH...............................................19 a. Theoretical framework of the main theories........................................................................21 b. Key concepts of the main social movement theories and debate.......................................26 c. Conceptualizing the political................................................................................................33 d. Why Wo/Men Rebel? Collective action as a cognitive praxis. Framing processes and ideology................................................................................................................................... 42 e. What is really happening today is neoliberalism.................................................................51 CHAPTER II: POLITICAL CRISIS IN GREECE..........................................................................58 a. The socio-economic environment.......................................................................................59 b. Restructuring and modernization processes of the two last decades of the 20th century...69 c. The end of the “End of History”...........................................................................................76 d. The rise of the authoritarian state and the crisis of hegemony............................................87 CHAPTER III: THE CLASS STRUCTURE OF GREEK SOCIETY.............................................96 a. Introductory elements: Methodological issues and class theory..........................................97 b. Particularities of the social structure in the Greek social formation...................................103 c. The class structure and its transformations.......................................................................109 d. Specific features of the working class...............................................................................116 e. Main features of the labour and trade-union movement in Greece...................................121 f. Specific features in the emergence of social protest..........................................................130 CHAPTER IV: THE SOCIAL MOVEMENT IN GREECE IN 2010-2011.....................................138 3 a. The social movement as a whole: The rebellious cycle of 2010-2011...............................140 b. The waves of strikes.........................................................................................................145 c. “We don't owe, we won't sell, we won't pay”: The movement of the squares of 2011........153 d. Other forms and structures of the social movement..........................................................166 e. The expression of a new politicization: Street politics and the question of political participation........................................................................................................................... 174 CHAPTER V: POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFORMATION. THE OUTCOMES OF THE FIELD RESEARCH...............................................................................185 a. Methodological remarks and sample.................................................................................186 b. Political self-determination and identity attribution............................................................193 c. Participation in movements...............................................................................................198 d. The crisis of political representation and of legitimation of the state and its institutions....206 e. The role of participation and self-evaluation in consciousness transformation..................215 f. New forms of exercising politics: Towards an inevitable institutionalization or another practice of politics?...............................................................................................................219 CHAPTER VI: MAKING HISTORY. ON THE FORMATION OF SUBJECTIVITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS..................................................................................................................226 a. Theoretical thoughts on subjectivity and class consciousness..........................................227 b. Spontaneous and conscious element. Organizational forms............................................237 c. Politics of emancipation.....................................................................................................247 CONCLUSIONS: SOCIAL MOVEMENT AS A RUPTURE IN CONTINUITY.............................259 “First comes indignation, then rebellion, then we shall see”.................................................265 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................271 APPENDIX: SAMPLE OF THE INTERVIEWS..........................................................................307 4 List of acronyms and abbreviations Acronym/ Meaning Abbreviation ADEDY Civil Servants' Confederation ANEL Independent Greeks (right-wing party) DEH Public Corporation of Electricity DSE Democratic Army of Greece (1946-1949) EAM National Liberation Front (1941-1946) EAP Economically Active Population EC European Commission ECB European Central Bank EEAM Labour sector of EAM EFSF