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Famine, Suicide and Photovoltaics: Narratives from the Greek crisis

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  • Daniel M. Knight

Abstract

The Greek crisis has become the most eminent example of neoliberal economic meltdown over the past five years. In towns across Greece people try to come to terms with drastic changes in their everyday lives and grapple with the complex mixture of politics, economy, history and culture that informs crisis experience. This paper addresses recurring themes in crisis narratives from the town of Trikala, central Greece, within the context of local history and economy. Narratives condense historical experience, fashion forms of cultural proximity and facilitate polytemporality. As people recall the era of ciftliks (great estates), the Great Famine of 1941-43, and the stock market collapse they construct a sphere of collective suffering and solidarity based on adversity whilst simultaneously critiquing economic systems. Historical events significantly inform present crisis experience in Trikala, adding local nuances to national and global problems. Three prominent themes can be identified in daily narratives that help locals comprehend the socioeconomic hardship: famine, suicide and colonisation. These recurrent themes form the bases for collective suffering, encouraging solidarity in the face of socioeconomic turmoil. In narrative, actors move seamlessly from past to present, offering a critique of economic systems by means of historical embodiment.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel M. Knight, 2013. "Famine, Suicide and Photovoltaics: Narratives from the Greek crisis," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 67, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
  • Handle: RePEc:hel:greese:67
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    Cited by:

    1. Emmanuel Mamatzakis, 2013. "Are there any Animal Spirits behind the Scenes of the Euro area Sovereign Debt Crisis?," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 72, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    2. Manussos Marangudakis & Kostas Rontos & Maria Xenitidou, 2013. "State Crisis and Civil Consciousness in Greece," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 77, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    3. Spyros Kosmidis, 2013. "Government Constraints and Economic Voting in Greece," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 70, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    4. Athanasia Chalari & Clive Sealey & Mike Webb, 2016. "A Comparison of Subjective Experiences and Responses to Austerity of UK and Greek Youth," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 102, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    5. Jordaan, Jacob A. & Monastiriotis, Vassilis, 2016. "The domestic productivity effects of FDI in Greece: loca(lisa)tion matters!," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68816, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Stavros B. Thomadakis, 2015. "Growth, Debt and Sovereignty: Prolegomena to the Greek Crisis," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 91, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    7. Nicholas APERGIS & Arusha COORAY, 2013. "New Evidence on the Remedies of the Greek Sovereign Debt Problem," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 79, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    8. Nick Papandreou, 2014. "Life in the First Person and the Art of Political Storytelling:The Rhetoric of Andreas Papandreou," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 85, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    9. Yiannos Katsourides, 2013. "Political Parties and Trade Unions in Cyprus," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 74, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    10. George Alogoskoufis, 2013. "Macroeconomics and Politics in the Accumulation of Greece’s Debt: An econometric investigation, 1975-2009," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 68, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    11. Platon Monokroussos & Dimitrios Thomakos & Thomas A. Alexopoulos & Eleni Lydia Tsioli, 2017. "The Determinants of Loan Loss Provisions: An Analysis of the Greek Banking System in Light of the Sovereign Debt Crisis," Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions, in: Platon Monokroussos & Christos Gortsos (ed.), Non-Performing Loans and Resolving Private Sector Insolvency, chapter 9, pages 181-225, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Vassilis Monastiriotis & Angelo Martelli, 2013. "Beyond Rising Unemployment: Unemployment Risk, Crisis and Regional Adjustments in Greece," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 80, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    13. Rosa VAsilaki, 2016. "Policing the crisis in Greece: The others' side of the story," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 98, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    14. Chalari, Athanasia & Sealey, Clive & Webb, Mike, 2016. "A comparison of subjective experiencesand responses to austerity of UK andGreek youth," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68585, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Kostas Ifantis, 2013. "The US and Turkey in the fog of Regional Uncertainty," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 73, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    16. Kougias, Konstantinos, 2017. "‘Real’ flexicurity worlds in action: evidence from Denmark and Greece," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69576, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Kosmidis, Spyros, 2013. "Government constraints and economic voting in Greece," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 50259, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Prodromos Vlamis, 2013. "Greek Fiscal Crisis and Repercussions for the Property Market," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 76, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    19. Christodoulakis, Nicos, 2014. "The conflict trap in the Greek Civil War 1946-1949: an economic approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 56228, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Konstantinos Kougias, 2017. "‘Real’ Flexicurity Worlds in action: Evidence from Denmark and Greece," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 106, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    21. Stavros Thomadakis, Dimitrios Gounopoulos, Christos Nounis and Michalis Riginos, 2014. "Financial Innovation and Growth: Listings and IPOs from 1880 to World War II in the Athens Stock Exchange," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 86, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    22. Vassilis Arapoglou, Kostas Gounis, 2015. "Poverty and Homelessness in Athens: Governance and the Rise of an Emergency Model of Social Crisis Management," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 90, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.

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