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The Relationship Between Homeland and Diaspora: the Case of Greece

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The Relationship Between Homeland and Diaspora: the Case of Greece THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOMELAND AND DIASPORA: THE CASE OF GREECE AND THE GREEK-AMERICAN COMMUNITY A dissertation presented By Panagoula Diamanti-Karanou To The Department of Political Science In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the field of Political Science Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts April, 2015 1 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOMELAND AND DIASPORA: THE CASE OF GREECE AND THE GREEK-AMERICAN COMMUNITY by Panagoula Diamanti-Karanou ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities of Northeastern University April, 2015 2 ABSTRACT In an increasingly global world, diasporas are unique actors since they represent a fusion of the cultures, interests and mentalities of their old and new homelands. Thus, the relationship between homelands and diasporas becomes quite significant. Nevertheless, it remains understudied. This dissertation attempts to contribute to the study of this phenomenon through an in-depth examination of the relationship between Greece and the Greek diaspora in the United States. The Greek state and the Greek-American community are interdependent on each other. The state relies on the community for assistance in the areas of development, economic cooperation, humanitarian aid, and advocacy for foreign policy issues. The community relies on the Greek state for support with respect to Greek education and the preservation of Greek culture in the United States. The relationship between the two entities reflects the dynamics of a partnership although the state has tried in the past to extend its control over the Greek-American community. However, the community has proved its independence vis-à-vis the Greek state. In order to have a more fruitful partnership in the future, a number of conditions should be in place, including a systematic and well-planned diaspora policy on the part of the Greek state and better organized structures on the part of the Greek-American community. Moreover, a better and deeper knowledge and appreciation of each other is very important for any further cooperation: the Greek state needs to get to know the spectrum of Greek identity and culture that exists in the Greek-American community while the Greek-Americans need to have a deeper knowledge of Greece and Greek culture. The Greek-American diaspora can have a significant role as an agent of positive change and it can be a unique bridge between the two nations enriching them both at the same time. 3 DEDICATION To my father Georgios who passed before he could see me complete my dissertation, and to my mother Maria who has been the primary force behind it. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my primary advisor, Professor Amilcar Barreto, for his support, his faith in me and his other doctoral students, his patience, his high academic standards and his wise advice. I would also like to thank Governor Michael Dukakis for his advice and encouragement, for sharing his amazing experiences, and for believing in the role of Greek-Americans as agents of positive change. Many thanks also go to Ambassador Georges Prévélakis, who has given me valuable guidance and support. He was the one who suggested that I work on this topic even before I enrolled in the PhD program. I owe gratitude to Northeastern University and to the Department of Political Science not only for offering me the opportunity to pursue this dissertation but also for supporting me financially through it with a Tuition Assistantship award, Teaching Assistantship awards, Senior Teaching Assistantship awards, a Summer Research Grant and the Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Professor Portz has been particularly supportive to me and to all doctoral students at the department. This work would not be as complete without the contribution of several Greeks and Greek- Americans whom I interviewed or with whom I discussed these issues on several occasions, including diplomats, advocates, community organizers, professors, priests, and Greek school 4 teachers. I would like to thank, in particular, Professor Aristotle Michopoulos, Nick Larigakis, Dr. Vasiliki Rapti, and long-time friends Panos Spiliakos and Eleni Vidalis in the United States for allowing me to interview them. I would also like to thank Ambassador Petros Panayotopoulos and Dr. Ilias Karanikas in Greece for offering me an interview. My thanks extend also my anonymous interviewees in Greece and in the United States who were kind enough to share their time and thoughts with me. Maya Tsokli and her assistant Elli Tsiforou were very supporting and provided me with the Minutes and the Reports of the Special Parliamentary Committee for Diaspora Greeks at the Greek Parliament, among other useful material. I am also thankful to the staff of the library of the Greek Parliament in Athens and of the library of the Council of Hellenes Abroad in Thessaloniki where I performed part of my research. I extend my thanks to my friends Dr. Chris Chanyasulkit, Anna Pakiou and Xanthippi Kotzageorgi-Zymaris who supported my work in significant ways. I would also like to thank Consul General of Greece in Boston Ifigenia Kanara and Kaiti Galanopoulos for their encouragement and support. Dr. Sheila Kohanteb, Dr. Allison Uzdella, Professor Liubomir Topaloff and Professor Natalie Bormann’s advice and assistance during my earlier years in the PhD program was very valuable. Barbara Rich, Lyle Ring and Logan Wangsgard in the Department of Political Science have been very helpful for several years now. I also would like to thank PoliTea, the graduate student organization at the Department of Poltiical Science, which offered me the opportunity to present an early version of this research and get helpful feedback on it. Last but definitely not least, I thank my family, without whose support this would not have been possible. My father Georgios and my mother Maria made their children’s education their first 5 priority, making significant sacrifices along the way. I would not be where I am today if it were not for them. My husband Menios has been amazingly patient and supportive during the time I have been working on my dissertation. He has been sharing this journey of exploration with me and he has given me valuable advice along the way. My children, Vasilis, George and Maria, have been patient and encouraging during the long time I spent researching and writing. They eagerly waited for me to finish so that I could spend more time with them. Hopefully, this can be an inspiration for their own explorations. My brother Dimitris contributed substantially to this work in different ways for several years now from afar. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 2 Dedication and Acknowledgements 4 Table of Contents 7 Introduction 8 Chapter 1: Nations, States, and Diasporas 13 Chapter 2: The Greek Diaspora Communities: From 15 th Century Venice to 20 th Century New York 45 Chapter 3: The Conceptual Framework: Notions of Greek Identity and Culture in the Homeland and the Diaspora 91 Chapter 4: Greece and the Greek-Americans: the Homeland’s Diaspora Institutions, Policy and Rhetoric 144 Chapter 5: Greek Diaspora Education in the United States 213 Chapter 6: Greece and the Greek-American Community: Economics, Aid, and Development 291 Chapter 7: The Role of Greek-Americans in Greek Foreign Policy I: Issues and Actors 344 Chapter 8: The Role of Greek-Americans in Greek Foreign Policy II: Mobilization and Advocacy 406 Chapter 9: Conclusion 452 Appendix A Greek Day Schools in the United States 473 Appendix B Greek-American Legislators 483 Bibliography 484 7 INTRODUCTION I am a first generation Greek-American. This identity still sounds quite strange to me since it feels as if I came only yesterday to this country ― not twenty years ago as I really did. My six- year-old son, who is a second generation Greek-American, described our dual identity in a very accurate way. When my husband and I became American citizens last year, our son said that now all of us are both Greek and American ― but he added that my husband and I would always be a little more Greek than American while he and his siblings would always be a little more American than Greek. With his simple but very logical approach, he touched at the core of generational differences in Greek-American identity. In the last twenty years I have worked and socialized with all generations of Greek- Americans in the context of Greek-American community organizations in the Boston area. I came to know them and their problems quite deeply. My experiences ranged from Greek afternoon and Saturday schools in the parishes to Modern Greek Studies programs in universities, and from cultural organizations of the community to advocacy ones. I came to know the concerns of university students from Greece who were far from their homeland, of Greek-American parents who were concerned with how to pass their culture to their children, of priests who had to balance the needs of first generation Greek-American parishioners with those of non-Greek converts, of community organizers who were concerned with low participation, and of Greek school teachers who had to face significant challenges in their work. With the exception of the priest, I have found myself in the role of all the above. 8 Working at the Greek Consulate in Boston several years ago gave me the opportunity to see many of these problems from the perspective of the Greek state. I was introduced to the will of many Greek diplomats and public administration employees to contribute as much as possible to the needs of the community and to those of Greece. However, I was also introduced to the many problems of the Greek bureaucracy, of Greek public administration structures and of the often inadequate and counter-productive policy-making at the national center.
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