Anarchy in Athens

An ethnography of militancy, emotions and violence

By (author) Nicholas Apoifis

Publication date:

21 October 2016

Length of book:

208 pages

Publisher

Manchester University Press

Dimensions:

234x156mm

ISBN-13: 9781526100597

The battles between Athenian anarchists and the Greek state have received a high degree of media attention recently. But away from the intensity of street protests militants implement anarchist practices whose outcomes are far less visible. They feed the hungry and poor, protect migrants from fascist beatings and try to carve out an autonomous political, social and cultural space. Activists within the movement share politics centred on hostility to the capitalist state and all forms of domination, hierarchy and discrimination. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork among Athenian anarchists and anti-authoritarians, Anarchy in Athens unravels the internal complexities within this milieu and provides a better understanding of the forces that give the space its shape.

Introduction
1. Hellenic turmoil
2. Social movement theory and collective identity
3. Militant ethnography and taking notes in a furnace
4. The early years of Greek anarchism: 'it just doesn't mean anything to me'
5. A contemporary history: 'Fuck May 68, Fight Now!'
6. The anarchist and anti-authoritarian space: tensions and tendencies
7. Street-protests and emotions: a temporary unity
Conclusion: imagining and fighting for alternative realities
Index

'Lucid, sophisticated and suggestive ... this book will certainly speak to the many activist researchers who today are vitally interested in the construction of commoning activities, new forms of anti-capitalist strategies, and the new relationship between local and global struggles.'
- Andrej Grubacic, Director and founder of the Anthropology and Social Change department at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco