Πολυπολιτισμός, εθνικισμός και ακροδεξιά

Abstract

This paper deals with the relationship between the recent unexpected rise of the Greek extreme right and the immigrant question that is presented as a novel phenomenon in the public discourse on multiculturalism. It describes the two extreme right-wing parties that succeeded in entering the Greek parliament: the first, an authoritarian and indirectly anti-pluralist, populist and racist movement, and the second an extremist neo-Nazi party, which is fiercely anti-Semitic, racist, openly against parliamentary pluralism and aggressive, often resorting to violence. While the rise of the Greek extreme right is unquestionably related to the immigrant question, the paper suggests that the phenomenon is the product of an ideological backlash, rooted in the fact that the successful and rapid process by which the Greek society became a democratic European society has been obstructed. What is responsible for this regressive course is the 19th-century ideological myth of a homogeneous and monocultural Greek culture prevalent in the educational system that was left intact by the ruling politicians (and especially by the socialists). This tolerance to an outdated national ideology, has facilitated the resurgence of a new extreme nationalism, which has played a decisive role in facilitating the rise of the extreme right with all the consequences it entails.