A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Greeks seek austerity trial at The Hague
Posted April 25, 2012 by PR
By Mark Lowen, BBC News, Athens It is rare for citizens to try to take their government to court, and even more so for a Western European government to be taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. But that is what one group based near the Greek capital is now attempting. And […]
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New Media emerging
Posted April 22, 2012 by KK
By Krystallia Kalachani It is late afternoon, June 2011, the temperature in Athens is high. I am still at work giving a last look at my social media accounts before I leave for home, there is calling for a gathering in Syntagma Square, central Athens, in front of the Greek Parliament. I would be there […]
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Circle dancing with the Greeks
Posted April 19, 2012 by DW
By David Wisner I first drafted this note over a year ago. If anything, the tendency I described, and its implications for the future of Greece and the EU, are all the greater. A worldly Greek acquaintance likes to tell the following anecdote. Foreign investors of a bygone era come to Greece, only to lose […]
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Conceptions of politics: changing patterns in Greece
Posted April 14, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Kostas A. Lavdas Greeks know a thing or two about politics. But the reasons why they do – the conditions that help nurture a political culture prone to intense politicization – are diverse and, at least some of them, divergent. In fact, as I have suggested elsewhere, political development in modern Greece can be […]
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The non-amendable phenomenon of regulatory amendments
Posted April 9, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Panagiotis Karkatsoulis Politis wanted to post the names of those ministers who recently tried to amend legislation agreed to by the Greek government in exchange for the next tranche of aid from the Troika. When we could not find what we wanted online, we approached internationally renowned expert Panagiotis Karkatsoulis, who responded as follows. […]
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Gender biography and citizenship
Posted April 9, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Maria Kyriakidou On March 5, 2012 the Dukakis Center co-hosted a workshop on women’s biographies, life stories and autobiographies. The workshop consisted of panels regarding the research methodology on gender and biography, specific historical examples from a European and South-East European context as well as presentations on local history, with a brief historical account […]
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Greeks not trying hard enough
Posted April 5, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Livingston Merchant I just read the article entitled “The Greeks aren’t even trying,” in a blog named Testosterone Pit by Wolf Richter. I work as a professor of history and international affairs at Raparin University in Ranya, Kurdistan. It is a very small city in northern Iraq near the Iranian border, with no post […]
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In defense of quiet activism
Posted April 4, 2012 by M P
By Maria Patsarika Last week I went to an interesting talk about the role of social sciences in these days of financial, political and social crisis and insecurity for Greece. Throughout the talk a critical question was lingering in the air, like the elephant in the room: “Why do most social scientists and intellectuals typically […]
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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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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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Giorgos Toulas live at ACT
Posted March 21, 2012 by PR
Live video by Ustream
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Good citizenship: Not a theoretical concept… simply a “good thing”
Posted March 5, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Ruth Sutton “1066 and All That,” a spoof history of England, gently assists its readers through the complexities of social change by inserting the regular insightful and analytical comment: “This was a good thing.” Looking back on this period of instability in Greece and Europe in general, I can’t help wondering if, years on, […]
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Citizenship in Greece in questions
Posted February 26, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Despina Ventouri Despite the fact that the concept of citizenship has roots in ancient Greece, one must not confuse this with more modern definitions and forms of citizenship. First, citizenship and democracy were invented in city-states, where it was possible for an elite class of citizens to participate directly to the political process. Second, […]
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This is citizenship in action!
Posted February 24, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Maria Patsarika October 27, 2011 may now seem as a distant instantané of the eurozone crisis. However, at that time, it was seen by many as a victorious day, after having agreed a deal that slashed the Greek debt to 50%. As with all such deals, however, this one, too, had winners and losers; […]
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New meaning to the word demos
Posted February 24, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Laura Strieth “Iceland Mob Rule” is what the Guardian called it but to me it seems like an evolved form of democracy. A country with the oldest continuous parliament dating back to 930, had the 3rd largest financial meltdown in human history and as a response: rid themselves of their government, the central bank […]
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The future of democracy in Greece
Posted February 24, 2012 by DW
By David Wisner Wolfgang Munchau is right, but for reasons he does not suspect. In his column in this past Monday’s Financial Times, Munchau laments the implications of this most recent round of Eurozone negotiations with Greece. In short, he concludes, if Germany wins, Greek democracy loses. The article generated considerable reaction. Munchau, who famously […]
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In search of a Greek social contract
Posted February 24, 2012 by DW
By David Wisner I’ve been thinking a lot about the American Declaration of Independence. Let me explain by way of an anecdote. Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet’s long-time business associate, is blind in one eye, owing to complications in a cataract operation. As Alice Schroeder tells the story, Munger never blamed the doctor, instead accepting responsibility […]
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Civic education in Greece*
Posted February 24, 2012 by DW
By David Wisner Last November the Dukakis Center hosted an international symposium on political reform in Greece. We brought in a wide variety of distinguished practitioners, scholars, and journalists to engage in a frank public conversation about how the Greece of tomorrow might appear. We gave equal time to students and young professionals, however, and […]