The "Wretched of Europe": Greece and the cultural politics of inequality

Article

Christou, A. 2018. The "Wretched of Europe": Greece and the cultural politics of inequality. Humanity and Society. 42 (1), pp. 102-127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0160597616664169
TypeArticle
TitleThe "Wretched of Europe": Greece and the cultural politics of inequality
AuthorsChristou, A.
Abstract

Abstract: This paper focuses on narratives of the crisis in contemporary Greece and aims to understand the current context of austerity as a trope, symbolic signifier and construct of inequality beyond austerity and in its manifestation as new social morphology in Europe. While the future recovery of Greece will require an extensive understanding of both economic and historical narratives which have sustained and fueled the modern Greek state, a deeper analysis of structural and societal cultural codes mirrored in the public sphere is paramount in comprehending the cultural politics of inequalities in academic and public discourse. In a changing political and social environment, youth in Greece face the consequences of the debt crisis, and, at the same time, re-examine their identity, values and aspirations. Drawing from narrative, visual and ethnographic data, the paper explores stories of the crisis in grounding an account of inequality as narrated by those experiencing dispossession and austerity.

PublisherSage
JournalHumanity and Society
ISSN0160-5976
Publication dates
Online07 Sep 2016
Print01 Feb 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited16 Sep 2016
Accepted22 Jul 2016
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
Copyright Statement

The full text is an author accepted manuscript version of: Anastasia Christou, The “Wretched of Europe”: Greece and the Cultural Politics of Inequality, Humanity & SocietyVol 42, Issue 1, pp. 102 - 127. Copyright © 2016 (The Author(s)). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.

Additional information

Article first published online: September 7, 2016

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/0160597616664169
LanguageEnglish
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