A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Indymedia: a different sort of public service
Posted January 25, 2013 by KK
Indymedia. The website is on the Politechnic’s server, or at least was in the past. From time to time the people that write there are accused of being anarchists. Whoever likes can write on the website. They started as independent media and often there have been efforts to shut them down… Sometimes they were actually […]
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Lustration and the Arab spring
Posted May 8, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner The Dukakis Center hosted well-known Greek blogger Kostas Kallergis in April for a talk on lustration as a means of dealing with corruption in Greek politics. Hearkening back to attempts in various countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe in the 1990s to deal with their former communist past, Kallergis concluded that the […]
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The NSRF phenomenon – or, The dangers of ΕΣΠΑ
Posted December 2, 2012 by M P
By Maria Patsarika Some months ago I had an interesting conversation with a friend about what it means to achieve fulfillment in life. This was prompted by the dilemma that we face nowadays perhaps more acutely than ever: how can someone retain one’s ethos and character when modern times is characterised by such fluidity, uncertainty […]
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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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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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Civic engagement in the digital age — a Pew report
Posted May 12, 2013 by Politis
Social networking sites have grown more important in recent years as a venue for political involvement, learning, and debate. Overall, 39% of all American adults took part in some sort of political activity on a social networking site during the 2012 campaign. This means that more Americans are now politically active on social networking sites […]
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Tax paying as civic duty
Posted April 3, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner I file my tax returns in Greece and in the US. I read this comment by Lawrence A. Zelenak in the New York Times as a welcome counterpoint to all the negative press generated throughout the Western world about tax evasion. “In the next two weeks, Americans rushing to file their returns by […]
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Saying of the day: 5/13/13
Posted May 13, 2013 by Politis
“I learned… that writing is play. So is reading. They are things you do to enjoy yourself. I found out that I enjoyed writing, and I could do it for hours on end, for my own amusement, rather than for any assignment or to get a good grade.” — Elias Kulukundis
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En deuil
Posted January 8, 2015 by DW
Charlie est mort, vive Charlie.
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What is needed now
Posted June 4, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Marten van Heuven The author is a retired senior US diplomat with extensive experience in European affairs. He contributed this note in response to an invitation by Politis for thoughts on the trans-Atlantic dimensions of the crisis in Greece and the eurozone. I find the situation in Greece and in Europe unsettling, in part […]
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European Year of Citizens 2013
Posted January 9, 2013 by Politis
The European Commission has designated 2013 as the European Year of Citizens, to commemorate the creation of European citizenship 20 years ago. In an interview with Deutsche Welle today Justice and Citizenship Commissioner Viviane Reding explained, “As Europeans, we have to hold on to our specific roots, and that’s exactly what we do. That should […]
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Sticki-gate
Posted January 19, 2013 by DW
Nick Malkoutzis has a probing analysis of the circus act that is the current Greek Parliament in the English pages of Kathimerini. In this instance he writes about the debate this past Thursday over whom to investigate in the ongoing saga of the infamous “Lagarde list.” The debate turned into a finger pointing match between […]
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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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Only in Thessaloniki…
Posted December 17, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Diego Salas Things about Greece, Thessaloniki 1. Things I that I never thought I would encounter People in general have at least a basic level of English. Taxis are incredibly cheap. People treat you like a brother though you’ve met them only once. Ouzo as a casual Greek beverage. Greeks take hours to […]
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Global occupy
Posted April 13, 2013 by Politis
By Politis David Graeber offers an insightful excerpt from his book The Democracy Project in today’s Salon on media coverage of the Occupy Wall Street. Why, he asks, did the US mainstream media “eventually began treating the occupation as a major news story.” His answer has both a peculiarly US and also a potentially profound […]
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Twitter and analysis
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
The folks at First Read had this to say on the ultimate effect of quick fire tweets by new age pundits, with respect to Chuck Hagel’s Senate confirmation hearing yesterday. “We’ll make one more point about Hagel’s hearing yesterday: Twitter and all the instant analysis made a bad performance look even worse — just like […]
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Noam Chomsky: a life shared?
Posted March 23, 2013 by MK
By Maria Patsarika Every time I read about Noam Chomsky my impression of a sarcastic, dominant, relentless thinker and academic is reinforced. In an article in today’s Guardian I see more than this – apparently he still is sarcastic and uncompromising – which is encapsulated in his phrase “No individual changes anything alone.” He grasps […]
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Ecosystem threat part and parcel of civic irresponsibility
Posted December 11, 2013 by M P
By Maria Patsarika Browsing a Sunday paper and a series of depressing articles on politics, one article made me think of the word “crisis” on a broader eco-systemic level, and also ponder the distressing consequences of our collective ignorance. Permissions for gold mining in Chalkidiki and protesters’ prosecutions are scandalous according to George Triantafyllidis, lecturer […]
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Here’s to your health
Posted April 14, 2015 by DW
I recently found myself obliged to spend some time in a public hospital. Aside from the obvious benefits to my health, it was a most revealing experience. Ihave no complaints about my treatment. The rather negative opinion I had formed previously about this particular hospital, based largely on the impression of utter chaos and lack […]