A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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We don’t get to choose these things
Posted January 10, 2015 by DW
By David Wisner Armchair expert on the Greek sovereign debt crisis that I have portrayed myself to be, you can imagine my relative despondency having read Pavlos Eleftheriadis’ article on Greece’s oligarchs in a recent issue of Foreign Affairs. Reading Eleftheriadis’ account of recent Greek history, it appears that one should have given up the […]
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Preserving the historical memory of Thessaloniki
Posted February 25, 2014 by Politis
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“Do you mean what you say?” Mark Mazower on political extremism
Posted February 11, 2013 by Politis
Mark Mazower, the author of “Salonica, City of Ghosts,” was interviewed in Kathimerini this past weekend. Here is what he had to say about political extremism in Greece today: “The new and highly disturbing feature of the scene in Greece is obviously the rise of the far right. Its emergence forces us to confront the […]
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Sins of our fathers
Posted March 27, 2012 by DW
By David Wisner On days like this past Sunday (March 25) we celebrate the heroic exploits of our forebears. We characteristically posit that knowledge of such exploits constitutes one of the cornerstones of modern citizenship. What a contrast with our own elders, one might muse. Indeed, like many before it, our age is prone to […]
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Would you swear an oath to the Queen?
Posted July 11, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner The Globe and Mail ran a story yesterday about “would-be Canadian citizens” who are up in arms about the oath of allegiance they must swear to the British monarch prior to earning full rights as citizens of Canada. The Citizenship Act requires applicants for citizenship to swear or affirm they will be […]
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Alex is back, lazier and more hard-working then ever
Posted May 8, 2013 by Politis
Alex is back, thanks to Damian Mac Con Uladh of EnetEnglish. “Alex, the popular animation character that seeks to demolish the negative, crisis-fuelled stereotypes about Greece in his own little way, has returned to YouTube, this time to challenge the “fact” that Greeks are lazy… Part two features Alex, a metaphor for the Greek people, […]
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On friendly politicians and false equality
Posted October 11, 2013 by M P
By Maria Patsarika The latest article in Kathimerini English edition by Takis Theodoropoulos makes a very good point: “The [second person] singular is the form of the collapse, which is often falsely equated with democratic equality” (free translation). Let us not be so naive as to fall for the casual manners and elusive straightforwardness that […]
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Wanted: deep thinkers
Posted February 7, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner The title of an article in the English version of Der Spiegel got me thinking about what appears to be a systemic problem throughout Europe and the eurozone. Spiegel claims that Europe needs new blood, not so much in terms of higher birthrates and immigration, but in terms of ideas and thinkers. […]
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Neo-nazi hate in Greece
Posted May 23, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Nicholas Burns In Athens, a popular far-right party condemns Jews as a source of the country’s misfortune and recycles the ancient lie depicting them as “Christ killers.” In Hungary, the prime minister fails to disassociate himself convincingly from an anti-Semitic and increasingly powerful fascist group. Scenes from Europe in the 1930s? No. Both examples, […]
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Obviating political responsibility: violence and the left in Greece
Posted July 8, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Kostas A. Lavdas ‘Bigotry tries to keep truth safe in its hand With a grip that kills it.’ Rabindranath Tagore Hardly a day goes by without an analysis appearing in the international media on the rise of the extreme right in Greece. And rightly so. At the same time however the Greek left’s contribution […]
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The Citizenship we need now is about transforming institutions
Posted March 27, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Ian Kehoe In these unprecedented times in Greece, it is more important than ever to question the purposes and outcomes of social projects and institutions in order to make sure we are really tackling the underlying causes and behaviours that led us to this crisis. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in alternative […]
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Send an SMS to your Congressman
Posted April 3, 2013 by Politis
We all know the expression, “Send a letter to your Congressman.” A company in India has just launched a Short Message Service (SMS)-based grievances redress mechanism in India, essentially to do just that. There is no indication yet how frequently citizens will use the service, or how well the system will function.
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Vote for Angie!
Posted September 9, 2013 by Politis
Fears in Germany that conservative voters may abstain from voting in the coming German national election. Their response: erotic dancers. Would the picture of this semi-nude performer inspire you to vote?
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Saying of the day: 6/7/13
Posted June 7, 2013 by Politis
“Like the Spartans, Thebans, and Thespians at the Pass of Thermopylae, the Greeks were sacrificed to buy time for the alliance.” — Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph
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Saying of the day: 4/3/13
Posted April 3, 2013 by Politis
“There are two Rules of Holes in politics. The first rule is well known: ‘When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.’ The second rule is less well known: ‘When you stop digging, you are still in a hole.’” — Roger Simon
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And what about the political corruption?
Posted March 12, 2013 by M P
By Maria Patsarika I read an article by Thanasis Skokos in Protagon yesterday about corruption. Actually, it is one of the many articles out there discussing the extent to which politicians who have misused power and public funds are now confronting justice and people’s outrage. Laying responsibilities on the financial side of things is a […]
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Depositor’s rage
Posted March 21, 2013 by Politis
Helena Smith of the Guardian reports this from Nicosia on the evening of March 21: “At branches in Nicosia, the divided capital, Cypriots queued for hours in the hope of withdrawing cash with lines frequently moving at a snail’s pace because of the inability of cash machines to dispense more than €40 euro at a […]
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Social entrepreneurialism twisted
Posted June 19, 2013 by M P
By Maria Patsarika Did you know about Bitcoin, the virtual currency? I didn’t. I found out this weekend reading the FT magazine. Bitcoin is one of the many entrepreneurial initiatives that feature all too often in the media. It is a monetary storage and distribution digital system, which enables transactions through exchange of codes, rather […]
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Who were the aganaktismenoi?
Posted February 21, 2013 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani Who were the aganaktismenoi, the Greek indignados? They were mostly people who were not supporting strongly any ideology or party. They might have been coming from all parties and all ideologies, meaning that they could have voted for one party or another in the past, but the gatherings in Syntagma Square during the […]
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Coming soon: ACTMUN 2013
Posted March 1, 2013 by Politis
Thessaloniki’s original intercollegiate Model United Nations simulation is back! That’s right, it’s time for ACTMUN 2013. Specially designed for students, friends, and alumni… That’s right, ACT alumni can play too! Stay tuned to this page for more details, and for information about the 15th anniversary celebrations of ACT’s BA in International Relations.