PhD defence M. (Marilena) Drymioti

Brief summary:

This thesis offers an (almost) historical and empirical analysis of the Greek crisis, challenging the dominant view that blamed its eruption entirely on national failures and promoted austerity as the only possible solution for its consolidation. The main objective of this work is to show that the Greek crisis narrative is far more complex, involving diverse perspectives, understandings, and experiences concerning both its initial outbreak and its subsequent management. This is achieved by examining all aspects of what began as a debt crisis in 2010, extending beyond the economic sphere to include significant political, social, and humanitarian dimensions. The in-depth examination of all these facets reveals that the notions of power, violence, and harm were central components of the Greek narrative of crisis and have highly determined the ways that their ramifications manifested in the Greek context. Specifically, they demonstrate how the crisis-austerity combination led to relations and interactions among all those involved in the Greek crisis narrative drifting into persistent conflicts of underlying perceptions and interests, essentially transforming a crisis-ridden context into a conflict-prone landscape. More importantly, they were crucial in understanding how the interplay of conflicting national and supranational perspectives and interests, combined with strict austerity measures, worsened the dysfunction of the Greek state, deepened social divisions, and fostered an environment of violence and repression.