MARILENA SIMITIS THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE PhD THESIS NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN GREECE: ASPECTS OF THE FEMINIST AND ECOLOGICAL PROJECTS 1 UMI Number: U1629B7 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U162937 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 T hZSZS h 8 0 0% ABSTRACT The thesis examines three case studies of the Greek feminist and ecological movements during the period: 1975-1992. As the most appropriate theoretical framework for the analysis of those case studies, ‘new social movement theory’ is selected. However, the Greek case studies represent significant variations in regard to the ‘ideal type’ of new social movements as depicted in the literature. These differences originate to a certain degree from Greek new social movements’ different cultural and political environment. The Greek social movements had to face a strong statocratic and partocratic society, where there was lack of an autonomous social movement sector. This led to the formation of semi-autonomous, party-affiliated social movement organisations. Moreover, the Greek political culture has been rooted on two different geopolitical visions. The one has pointed to a more traditionally oriented, inward looking political orientation hostile to Western values and the institutional arrangements of modernity. The other has been a modernising, outward looking orientation, adopting Western institutions and values. The stand of the Greek new social movements towards this open question of modernisation has been variable. Some social movement organisations have underlined the need for empowering national autonomy and have, therefore, been positively predisposed towards the state and the political parties as a significant means for achieving this goal. Others have eschewed the question altogether, focusing only on the local and international level with significant, however, political cost. Another factor, which has influenced the identity of the Greek new social movements, has been the tradition of the Left, which has favoured grand-narratives based on humanism and posing a dichotomy between ‘general’ and ‘particular’ struggles. Summing up, the social movements presented show marked variations in comparison with the ideal-typical type. They were strongly influenced by: statocracy and patrocracy, the open question of modernisation, and the political culture of the Left. 2 Contents Introduction 6 1. Main Theoretical Accounts of Social Movements: The Shift in Analytical Frameworks 13 1.1 Introduction 14 1.2 The Classical Model 16 1.2.1 Main Versions 17 1.2.2 Underlying Themes of the Classical Model 22 1.2.3 Main Critiques 23 1.3 Resource Mobilisation 27 1.3.1 Underlying Themes o f Resource Mobilisation 28 1.3.2 Main Critiques 34 1.4 New Social Movement Theory 37 1.4.1 Underlying Themes o f New Social Movement Theory 38 1.4.2 Main Critiques 50 1.5 Future Challenges for Social Movement Theory 53 1.6 Social Movement Theory in Greece and Latin America 56 2. The Greek Feminist Movement: Social and Historical Background 62 2.1 Introduction 63 2.2 The Sexual Division o f Labour 63 2.3 Women and Education 70 2.4 The Political Behaviour of Women and the Development of a Feminist Consciousness 72 2.5 The State, Civil Society and the Party System 76 2.6 A Concise History of the Greek Feminist Movement 82 3. The Union of Greek Women 94 3.1 Introduction 95 3.2 1976-1990: From a Women’s Organisation to State Feminism 95 3.3 Ideology 108 3.3.1 Capitalist Patriarchy 110 3.3.2 Social Values, Socialisation, Education 113 3.3.3 Humanism, Equality, Androgyny 117 3.3.4 Men, Family, Motherhood, Sexuality 119 3.3.5 Public and Private 127 3.3.6 Monopoly Capitalism, Imperialism, Peace 129 3.3.7 Nationalism 131 3 I 3.3.8 The State, Social Engineering, Decentralisation, Community 133 3.4 Organisational Structure 135 3.5 Social Base 140 3.6 Strategy 143 3.7 New Scenarios of Conflict 147 3.8 Summary 148 4. The Autonomous Feminist Groups 151 4.1 Introduction 152 4.2 1975-1990: The Construction of an Autonomous Feminist Culture 152 4.3 Ideology 162 4.3.1 Collectivity 162 4.3.2 Autonomy 164 4.3.3 The Personal is Political 169 4.3.4 Hierarchism, Science, Capitalism, Humanism 171 4.3.5 Family, Sexuality, Male Violence 176 4.4 Organisational Structure 180 4.5 Social Base 184 4.6 Strategy 187 4.7 New Scenarios of Conflict 192 4.8 Summary 194 5. The Greek Ecological Movement:. Social and Historical Background 198 5.1 Introduction 199 5.2 Rapid Economic Growth and Regional Imbalances 199 5.3 Environmental Problems 203 5.4 State Administration and the Environment 210 5.4.1 A Short History of Environmental Policy 211 5.4.2 Environmental Policy and Economic Surplus 219 5.5 The State versus Civil Society 220 5.6 Environmental Consciousness 230 5.6.1 The Middle strata and Collective Identity Building 230 5.6.2 Post-War Ideology 232 5.6.3 Other Factors 233 5.7 A Concise History of the Greek Ecological Movement 237 6. The Federation of Ecological and Alternative Organisations 256 6.1 Introduction 257 6.2 Seeking Public Support for Green Politics 257 6.3 Ideology 272 6.3.1 Ecocentrism and Humanism, Environmentalism, Social/Political Ecology 272 4 6.3.2 Holism, Pluralism, Difference 277 6.3.3 Development, Industrialism, Capitalism 279 6.3.4 The State and Civil Society 283 6.3.5 Participatory and Representative Democracy 286 6.3.6 Non-Violence, Pacifism, Civil Disobedience 289 6.3.7 The Local, National and International Level 291 6.4 Organisational Structure 296 6.5 Social Base 303 6.6 Strategy 306 6.7 New Scenarios of Conflict 309 6.8 Summary 310 Conclusions 312 List o f Abbreviations 323 Bibliography 324 5 Introduction The subject of this thesis is new social movements in Greece, with special attention to the feminist and ecological movements. In the relevant academic literature ecological and feminist movements, which articulated post-materialist values during the ‘70s and ‘80s, are referred to as new social movements. The purpose of the present work is to show how far the attributes of the Greek movements studied agree or disagree with the ideal type. While other schools of thoughts in social movement literature are also employed (classical model, resource mobilisation theory), no attempt is made to merge all of these into a single unified model, but simply to employ those theoretical tools that best illuminate the Greek case. As will be seen, the Greek social movements, which are here examined in depth, developed attributes notably absent from the pertinent literature on Western Europe and the United States. The partial correspondence of the Greek new social movements’ identity to the ideal type gives rise to a series of central questions. Since Greek new social movements developed a number of attributes differing from the ideal-typical type, is it still legitimate to classify them as new social movements? If the answer is yes, then which were their no.vel elements? Were Greek new social movements influenced by the developments in the social movement sector abroad? If the influence was only limited, then which variables defined their different course? Were the emergence and life-course of new social movements in Greek society related to a specific historical cycle? Does this historical cycle correspond to a similar cycle in Western Europe and the United States? Beyond the Greek case, have other researchers on new social movements recorded dissimilarities between the ideal type and specific empirical cases? The thesis will show that Greek new social movements developed attributes that were novel to the Greek context. Movement politics during the period 1975-1992 expanded the boundaries of the political by introducing new political subjects in the political process. Moreover, the Greek feminist and ecological movements questioned the quality of representative democracy and aimed to further political participation by introducing new organisational principles and structures (e.g. direct democracy). Greek new social movements politicised issues previously regarded as private and introduced into Greek politics a new agenda, concerning identity formation. In this respect, Greek new social movements presented novel elements similar to the ones outlined in the ideal type. However, Greek new social movements also presented 6 qualities notably absent from the ideal type. The thesis will show that the latter characteristics were due to complex interactions with two distinct, but interrelated phenomena: the internal organisation of the Greek nation-state and the state’s relation with the international community. In the first case, the strong statocratic and partocratic elements of Greek society have created conditions, which were unfavourable to the development of autonomous (from party and state) social movements. Thus, the post-junta (post-1974) Greek feminist movement relied heavily on political parties and/or the state apparatus. In the second case, disassociation of the movements’ political discourse from the dominant national issues meant a reduction in political influence. For instance, the political discourse of the ecological movement did not include international issues, meaning issues referring to Greece’s relation with the international community.