[lbo-talk] "Greeks Challenge Austerity" by T. Harrison and J. Landy

Eric Beck ersatzdog at gmail.com
Wed Aug 15 13:28:33 PDT 2012


On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 1:10 PM, Joanne Landy <joanne.landy at igc.org> wrote:
>
> The Greek Grassroots Challenge to the Politics of Austerity
> By Thomas Harrison and Joanne Landy
> Co-Directors of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy (New York)
> <http://www.cpdweb.org/docs/2012.greece.shtml>http://www.cpdweb.org/docs/2012.greece.shtml

I haven't read the full document yet, but based on what you've posted here, I have two, or maybe three, quibbles. First, I think the Golden Dawn-Syriza opposition is overdrawn and overlooks the way that GD is in many ways encouraged by the government; see particularly the current, ongoing pogrom of migrants in Athens and other cities. Your article makes it sound like GD alone is responsible for the misery of migrants, when clearly it's government policy assisted by GD.

Second, Syriza's stance, which seems pretty absolute, that Greece stay in the eurozone is politically problematic and strategically foolish--it is signing away its own bargaining power. Tsipras begging understanding from Hollande and Merkel doesn't help.

Third, you seem to find hope in slogans/programs like "We are all Greeks." I think the nationalist undertones there are troubling, and I'm not sure how they aren't the mirror of right-wing flag-waving. It seems like a slogan/strategy ripe for racist/right-wing cooptation.



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