Civil society in Greece before and after the onset of the economic crisis
Abstract
After the 1974 transition to democracy, Greek civil society did not develop but only to the extent allowed by pressures from the state and political parties, on which it was dependent for funds and coordination. After 1990, there was some growth of NGOs without changes in their economic dependence from state funding. After the economic crisis erupted in 2010, as the welfare state receded, old and newly founded NGOs became active in social solidarity. Simultaneously, informal social networks emerged, providing health, social care and education services. Even though the commitment of citizens to social solidarity initiatives was not large, the increased participation in protests and social movements in 2010-2013, indicated that civil society was empowered. However, this trend coexisted with the emergence of informal racist groups as well as violent radical anti-parliamentary groups. It turned out that the crisis was not only an opportunity for civil society empowerment, but also for the emergence of a form of uncivil society.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Σωτηρόπουλος Δ. Α. (2017). Civil society in Greece before and after the onset of the economic crisis. Greek Political Science Review, 42, 11–35. https://doi.org/10.12681/hpsa.14568
- Section
- Special Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
