REVOLT AND CRISIS IN GREECE BETWEEN A PRESENT YET TO PASS AND A F UTURE STILL TO COME How does a revolt come about and what does it leave behind? What impact does it have on those who participate in it and those who simply watch it? Is the Greek revolt of December 2008 confined to the shores of the Mediterranean, or are there lessons we can bring to bear on social action around the globe? Revolt and Crisis in Greece: Between a Present Yet to Pass and a Future Still to Come is a collective attempt to grapple with these questions A collaboration between anarchist publishing collectives Occupied London and AK Press, this timely new volume traces Greece's long moment of transition from the revolt of 2008 to the economic crisis that followed In its twenty chapters, authors from around the world-including those on the ground in Greece-analyse how December became possible, exploring its legacies and the position of the social antagonist movement in face of the economic crisis and the arrival of the International Monetary Fund In the essays collected here, over two dozen writers offer historical analysis of the factors that gave birth to December and the potentialities it has opened up in face of the capitalist crisis Yet the book also highlights the dilemmas the antagonist movement has been faced with since: the book is an open question and a call to the global antagonist movement, and its allies around the world, to radically rethink and redefine our tactics in a rapidly changing landscape where crises and potentialities are engaged in a fierce battle with an uncertain outcome Contributors include Vaso Makrygianni, Haris Tsavdaroglou, Christos Filippidis, Christos Giovanopoulos, TPTG, Metropolitan Sirens, Yannis Kallianos, Hara Kouki, Kirilov, Some of Us, Soula M., Christos Lynteris, Yiannis Kaplanis, David Graeber, Christos Boukalas, Alex Trocchi, Antonis Vradis, Dimitris Dalakoglou, and the Occupied London Collective Cover art by Leandros Layout and design by Klara Jaya Brekke and Tim Simons; edited by Antonis Vradis and Dimitris Dalakoglou, all of Occupied London REVOLT AND CRISIS IN GREECE BETWEEN A PRESENT YET TO PASS AND A FUTURE STILL TO COME Edited by Antonis Vradis and Dimitris Dalakoglou AK Press & Occupied London Oakland, Baltimore, Edinburgh, London & Athens - 20 1 - Between (/ Revolt and en'sis in Greea: Present Yet to P([.js and a Fillure Still to (orne An Occupied London Project Edited by Antonis Vradis and Dimitris Dalakuglou Co-Published by AKPress and Occupied London, 2011 ISBN; 978-0-98305-971-4Library of Congress Control :\'umbcr; 2011904668 No copyright Copy and use is encouraged li)r the purposes and benefit of the global social antagonist mnwment with the kind request that the source is mentioned For more inle)rmation; viww.occupiedlondon,org I www,revoltcrisis,org AKPRESS AKPRESS 674-A 23rd Street PO Box 12766 Oakland, CA 94612 Edinburgh EH8 9YE llSA Scotland www.akprcss,org www.akuk.com al:press@akpress.org ak@akedin.demon.co.llk The above addresses would be delighted to prov�de you with the latest AK Press distribution catalog, which features the several thousand books, pamphlets, zines, audio and video products, and stylish apparel published and/ or distributed by AKPress Alternatively, \�sit our web site lex the complete catalog, latest news and secure ordering V isit us at www,akpress.org and \\ww,revolutiunbnhebook.akpress.org Cover illustration by Leandros Cover design by Tim SimollS, Layout by KlaraJaya Brekke, Profits from the sale of this book will benefit anarchist printing and publishing projects around the globe, including Rotta in Greece and AKPress in the Lnited States, This edition printed in Canada on 100% recycled, acid-free paper, with union labor ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to everyone at AK Press and Kate, Lorna, Jessica, and Suzanne in particular for all their help; Bruce and Mikey (Oakland, US); Manny and Magpie (NYC, US); Shannon and Gabrielle (Montreal, Canada); Jaya, David, Daphne, and Yiannis (London, England); C atherine (Southampton, England); Harry (Edinburgh, Scotland); Christos and Yannis (St Andrews, Scotland): Christos (Lancaster, England); Edward, Tom, Leila, Lia, Frances, and Emilia (Brighton, England); Evie (Madrid, Spain); Vasia (Patras, Greece); Haris (Thessaloniki, Greece); Lcandros, Idris, Soula, Christos K, Christos G, Thanos, Stratos, Eleni, Hara, Vaso, Calamity, Achilleas, Yannis, Y iorgos, Dimitris, Evangelia, Katcrina, Stefanos, 1:Iarilena, James, and Tim in Athens CONTENTS Acronyms I 10 Introduction Dimitris Dalakoglou & Antonis Vradis 13 THE SITE: ATHENS Urban planning and revolt: a spatial analysis of the December 2008 uprising in Athens Vaso Makrygianni & Haris Tsavdaroglou 29 The polis-jungle, magical densities, and the survival guide of the enemy within G'hristos FilijJjJidis 59 Spatial legacies of December and the right to the city Dimitris Dalakoglou & Alltonis Vradis 77 THE EVENT: DECEMBER From ruptures to eruption: A genealogy of post-dictatorial revolts in Greece Christos Giovanopoulos & Dimitris Dalakoglou 91 The rebellious passage of a proletarian minority through a brief period of time The Children of the Gafle1}' (TPTG) 115 The (revolt) medium is the message: C ounter-information and the 2008 revolt Metropolitan Sirens 133 December as an event ill Greek radical p()litics Yannis Kallianos Short voyage to 151 the land of ourselves Ham Kouki 167 Paper rifles Kirilov 1 Nothing happened: A letter from across the Atlantic &w�ffi 181 1� The commonalities of emotion: Fear, faith, rage, and revolt Souta A1 199 THE CRISIS The Greek economic crisis as evental substitution Christos L)nteris 207 14 An economy that excludes the many and an "accidental" revolt Yiannis KaiJ/anis 15 215 The Greek debt crisis in almost unimaginably long-term historical perspective David Graeber 229 Burdened with debt: "Debt crisis" and class struggles in Greece The Children of the Galle�y (TPTG) 245 No one is revolutionary until the revolution! A long, hard reflection on Athenian anarchy through the pri�:m of a burning bank Ch/istas Boukalas 279 For the insurrection to succeed, we must first destroy ourselves Alex Trocchi 299 Postscript: Capitalism by default Occupied London Collective 329 Timeline 333 Glossary 337 Key places and people 341 Bibliography 345 ( ;U)SS,\R\ would receive an enhanced sentence The introduction of the law has bern directly linked to the aftermaths of December's revolt METAPOLITEFSI (LIT POLITICAL TRANSITION): The term used to describe the historical period of modern Greek history that follows the end of the colonels' dictatorship ( 74) Many believe the revolt of December 2008 to signify the end of Metapolitefsi POLYKATOIKIA (LIT MANY RESIDENCIES): The most common type of housing building in Athens These are multi-storey buildings made mainly out of concrete Their mass construction started alter WWII and boomed during the 9605 and 970s They were promoted by the authorities through antiparochi (see above) With the vertical segregation of its residents (higher classes living in upper floors) and their mixed use (commercial and housing), the polykatoikia played a key role in shaping the character of contemporary Greek cities POLYTECHNIC UPRISING: The anti-j unta protest of university students that starkd on :\ovember 97 and which escalated into a popular uprising and an occupation of the Athens Polytechnic by students and other protesters, lasting for three days Thousands joinf'd the protests, but in the early morning of November a n army tank crashed the front gate of the Polytechnic, followed by a full-scale attack by police and thf' army resulting in the df'aths of atl e ast forty protesters REVOLTED (EKSEGERMENOI [PL]) : The term has been used widely within the antagonist social mOWI1lcnt in Greece to describe participants in the 2008 rf'volt The use of the term- otherwise uncommon in English-has been deemed necessary in order to describe the composition of the revolt's participants: neither exactly insurgents (which would imply more war-like characteristics) nor simply protesters STEKI [SNGLRj, STEKIA [PLRL) (LIT " HANGOUT," WHERE PEOPLE HANG AROUND OFTEN): In the Grf'ek social antagonist moVt'Illcnt, the term steb has bf'cn used to describe spaces-rented or occupied, in universities or other urban areas used by a single group or by groups in close affinity with each other \Vhile most stekia are open to the public, they arc distinctively different to social centres in that they are most often associated "vith a much tighter group or politics SYNASPISMOS: The Coalition of the Left of Movements and Ecology, a parliamentary party which originates from KKE (int) rsce acronyms] Tn l ate 980s was an electoral coalition of both KKE and KKE (int), but soon became a new party mostly identified with KKE (int.) agenda Today is the largest party of SYRIZA [see acronymsJ 339 KEY PLACES AND PEOPLE ALEXANDROS (ALEXIS) GRIGOROPOULOS: the l S-year-old student murdered by the police officer Epameinondas Korkoneas on December 2008 in Exarcheia ANDREAS PAPANDREOU: Prime !l.1inister of Greece 98 1 989 and 993- 996 (Social Democrat) ASOEE: The campus of the Athens University of Economics and Business, located on Patision Avenue a few blocks north of Polytechneio [See Acronyms] ATHENS POLYTECHNIC (POLYTECHNEIO): The historical building of the National Technological L'niversity of Athens, located in Patision Avenue It was the epicentre of the November 97 anti-j unta uprising Much anarchist and other radical activity has been centred there since thE'n CHEMISTRY SCHOOL (CHIMEIO) : The old building of the Chemistry School of the University of Athens, located on Solonos Street COSTAS SIMITIS: Prime Minister of Greece 996-2004 (Social Democrat) EXARCHEIA: The central Athens neighbourhood where radical, anarchist, and far-left spaces and political activity are concentrated A1exandros Grigoropou1os was murdFred there on December 2008 GEORGE PAPANDREOU: Prime Minister of Greece since 2009 (Social Democrat) GEORGIOS PAPANDREOU (SENIOR): Prime Minister of Greece, 944- 945, 963, and 964- 965 341 Rn'OLT A N D CRISIS L\i GREECE uni\(�rsity ,tudent murcilTed by police on :'\O\'embcr 980 during clashes between demonstrators and the police' in front of the House of Parliarrlf'nt in l\lhens, \AKOVOS KOUMIS: :\ KOLONAKI: The m ost bourgeois district of central Athens, with the hig'hest propertv values and expensive boutique shops, high-class bars and cafes It is adj acent to the House of Parliamen l but also to Exarcheia KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS (SENIOR) : Prime Minister of Grrece 9jj- 963 and the first post-dictatorial PM (1 9H- 980) KOSTAS KARAMANLIS: LELAS KARAGIANNI: Prime Minister of Greece 200+ -2009 Consep,ative Ont' of the oldest anarchist squats in Athens, located on Lelas Karagianni St One of the most vibrant street assassination of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, MESOLOGEIOU: Il1 Exarcheia, also the site of The year-old student killed b\' a police officer of the riot police unit (t- fAT) on Novembcr 985, uuring clashes in Exarcheia MICHALIS KALTEZAS: self�organiscd open-air space in Exarcheia, located next to the site where Alexandros Grigoropoulos was assassinated, NAVARINOU PARK: :\ A high-school mathematics teacher assassinated in the city of Patras bv a right-wing thug or the then gon'rning :'\D party in cJ9 L NIKOS TEMPONERAS: The Law SdlOol of the llniversit\ of \thens, Locatcrt on Akadimias Street it is one of the central Athens university campuses NOMIKI: OMONOJA SQUARE: The most central square of Athens The a\TnUe passing in front of the neocla"ical refectory of thc University of Athens, the National Lihrary and the Academy of Athens It connects Athens's two most central squares of Athens, Syntagma and Omonoia, PANEPISTIMJOU AVENUE: PANTEJON UNIVERSITY: The primary social and political sciences uniwrsity of Athens Located on th e edge of the city centre, in the district of Kalithea, The avenue connecting the centre of Athens with the northern district of Patisia It ru ns in front of the Athens Polytechnic and on sewral occasions in the past lorty years l1a,; been tile battlefield uetwcen protesters and police PATISION AVENUE: The squa re at the front of the Cniwrsity of Athens refeclOn', located on Panepistimiou Avenue, It is one of the most central university facilities in A.thens and is protected under the academic asylum legislation It is one of the most common sites for rallies take place and marches to start PROPYLEA: 342 KEY PL\CES AND PEOPLE STAMATINA KANELOPOULOU: A worker killed by police on November 980 during clashes between demonstrators and the police in front of the House of Parliament in Athens SYNTAGMA SQUARE: The square in front of the House of Parliament in Athens TROIKA: Common name for the three organisations (IM1'; EU, ECB) which gave a loan to the Greek government on May 5, 20 VILLA AMALIAS: The second-oldest anarchist squat in Athens, located in Aharnon Street 343 - - - - BIBLIOGRAPHY Agamben, G ( 995) "\Ve Refugees," Svmposium 49 (2) pp 1 4- 1 i2 005) State of Exception, Chicago: Chicago Cniversity Press - (2007) The Coming Community, :vIinneapolis: :'1innesota University Press Amin, A (2003) "Unruh' Strangers? The 200 Urban Riots in Britain," UURR (2) Angas, L L B ( 93 7) Slump Ahead in Bonds, New York: Somerset Pub C o Arendt, H ( 986) The Human Condition, C hicago: Chicago University Press - (2006) Between Past and Future, London: Penguin Austin,] L ( 75) How to Do Things With V\-ords, Oxford: Clarendon Press Autor, D H., Katz, L E and Kearney, M S (2006) "The Polarisation of the US Labour Markt't," American Economic Rt'view Papers and Proceedings 96 (2), pp 89- 94 Badiou, A (2005a) Being and Ew�nt, London: Continuum - (2005b) Metapolitics, London: Verso (2007) [ 988] Being and Even t, New York: Continuum Bagguley, P and Hussain, Y (2008) Riotous Citizens: Ethnic ConHict in Multicultural Britain, London: Ashgate 345 REVOl T A N D CRTSTS IN CRHCE Baldassarc, M n 9941 The Lns Angeles Rints: Lessnns iiJr the ['rban Fu ture, San Francisco: Weslview Press Rank or Greece (20D9 Monetary Policy 2009-20 0, Athens: Bank of Greece [in Greek] Bauman, Z ( 994) Alone Again : Ethics after Certainty, London: Demos - - (2006) Liquid Fear, Oxford: Polity - (2007) Liquid Time, Oxford: Polity Benjamin, W (200301; "Berlin Childhood Around 900," il1 Be�amin, W Bullock M P., and Jennings M W (eds) l"'alter BeI�jamin: Selected Writings \blume 935- 988, Bmton: Harvard University Press - - (2003b) Paris, Capital of the 9th Cen tury, Hotel des etrangers (Tht'ssaloniki:, [in Greek] - (2004) "Critique of Violence," in Benjamin, w , Bullock, �1 P andJennings, :\1 W :eds) Willtcr Benjamin : Selected lrritings \'olume 1 -1 926, Boston: Harvard University Press (2006) [ 94 '2 ] "On the Concept of History" in Benjamin, W, Bullock, :\f P., and Jennings M W (eds) Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings Volume 938-1 940 Boston: Harvard University Press Blaumand emancipations, Latin A.merica in lh e ;\Iove, Athens: Alana [in Grefk] Zizek, S, ( 999) The Ticklisll S u bject, Londo n : Verso � 350 : 002 lVelcome to the Dcsen of th e Real London: \'erso December 2008 People standing at one if the barricades if Patision Avenue in Athens on the third day if the revolt, during a briif respite ]rom the streetfighting, waiting · ABOUT OCCUPIED LONDON Occupied London is an anarchist collective writing on all things urban Since 2007, the collective has worked together to publish an irregular journal, offering a platform for discussion within the global social antagonist movement, and featuring contributions by writers and collectives from around the globe, including Nasser Abourahme, Zygmunt Bauman, Franco Berardi, Klara Jaya Brekke, Manuel Caste lis, Mike Davis, Dimitris Dalakoglou, Christos Filippidis, David Graeber, Richard Pithouse, Marina Sitrin, Antonis Vradis, and many, many more Since 2008, the collective has maintained a wildly popular blog, " Fromthe Greek Streets," providing up-to-the-minute coverage of the urban revolt of December 2008 in Greece, and examining the impact and legacies of the revolt and the crisis that followed http: / / www.oc cupiedlondon.org I http) /www.occupiedlondon.org/blog ABOUT AK PRESS AK Press is a worker-run, democratically-managed publisher of anarchist and radical literature Founded in 1990, AK Press is a ten-person collective of committed anarchists, spread between Oakland, Baltimore, and Edinburgh, working hard to publish more than twenty new titles each year, and distributing thousands of other titles from like-minded publishers around the globe No bosses No bullshit Great books http : / / www.akpress.org I http) / revolutionbythebookakpress.org Consider signing up for the Friends of AK Press Program $25 a month ($30 for non­ US customers) gets you a copy of every book AK Press publishes during the course of your membership, including fantastic titles like this one Your monthly contribution goes directly into our publishing account, and ensures that we'll be able to make even more books available ill the coming years Email friendsofak@akpress.org for more information or to join ... Layout and design by Klara Jaya Brekke and Tim Simons; edited by Antonis Vradis and Dimitris Dalakoglou, all of Occupied London REVOLT AND CRISIS IN GREECE BETWEEN A PRESENT YET TO PASS AND A FUTURE. .. Shannon and Gabrielle (Montreal, Canada); Jaya, David, Daphne, and Yiannis (London, England); C atherine (Southampton, England); Harry (Edinburgh, Scotland); Christos and Yannis (St Andrews, Scotland):.. .REVOLT AND CRISIS IN GREECE BETWEEN A PRESENT YET TO PASS AND A F UTURE STILL TO COME How does a revolt come about and what does it leave behind? What impact does it have on those who participate