Simitis, Marilena
(2002)
New social movements in Greece: Aspects of the feminist and ecological projects.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
The thesis examines three case studies of the Greek feminist and ecological movements during the period: 1975-1992. As the most appropriate theoretical framework for the analysis of those case studies, 'new social movement theory' is selected. However, the Greek case studies represent significant variations in regard to the 'ideal type' of new social movements as depicted in the literature. These differences originate to a certain degree from Greek new social movements' different cultural and political environment. The Greek social movements had to face a strong statocratic and partocratic society, where there was lack of an autonomous social movement sector. This led to the formation of semi-autonomous, party-affiliated social movement organisations. Moreover, the Greek political culture has been rooted on two different geopolitical visions. The one has pointed to a more traditionally oriented, inward looking political orientation hostile to Western values and the institutional arrangements of modernity. The other has been a modernising, outward looking orientation, adopting Western institutions and values. The stand of the Greek new social movements towards this open question of modernisation has been variable. Some social movement organisations have underlined the need for empowering national autonomy and have, therefore, been positively predisposed towards the state and the political parties as a significant means for achieving this goal. Others have eschewed the question altogether, focusing only on the local and international level with significant, however, political cost. Another factor, which has influenced the identity of the Greek new social movements, has been the tradition of the Left, which has favoured grand-narratives based on humanism and posing a dichotomy between 'general' and 'particular' struggles. Summing up, the social movements presented show marked variations in comparison with the ideal-typical type. They were strongly influenced by: statocracy and patrocracy, the open question of modernisation, and the political culture of the Left.
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