Abstract
Following the 2008 economic crisis in Europe, Greece has seen a rise in anarchist movements. The rise of modern-day anarchism has remained steady throughout the last decade and has established a strong presence in the political, social, and economic spheres of Greek society. Greek anarchists constantly engage in high-risk, high-cost forms of activism, ranging from firebombing banks to rioting against the police. This thesis seeks to explore the motivations of some Greeks behind joining the modern-day Greek anarchist movement. Using a combination of interviews with anarchists and mini-ethnographies from demonstrations and anarchist-occupied squats, results showed that Greek anarchists tend to be structurally available, under multiple strains at once (the economy, police force, and education system), emotionally effected by the murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos in 2008, and experiencing feelings of solidarity with the rest of the members of the movement. Because the movement does not recruit, Greeks had to seek out the movement themselves; most were influenced to join the anarchist movement after they came into contact with the movement’s demonstrations, riots, or protests. Many anarchists also underscored the importance of having grown up in Greece, a country with a long history of anarchy, activism, and rebellion. Greece’s anarchist culture socializes its youth for activism, making some more receptive to joining the anarchist movement.
Type of Work
Thesis - Limited Access
Department or Program
Sociology
Institution
Hamilton College
Degree
Bachelor of Arts
Date of Graduation
5-2019
Faculty Advisor
Stephen J. Ellingson
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Citation Information
Plakas, Christina, "The Revolution Will Not Come with Flowers: What Motivates Some Greeks to Join the High-Risk, High-Cost Anarchist Movement" (2019). Hamilton Digital Commons.
https://digitalcommons.hamilton.edu/soc_theses/25