Social justice and a city: surplus capital and the remaking of Athens

ABSTRACT

Social Justice and the City (SJTC) is an artefact that epitomises a radical shift in the history of the discipline of Geography, and more broadly in urban theory; and it is also a signpost to what followed it, a book that raises the spectre of a more fleshed out theory of urban capital circulation than it actually contains. Yet the demands of SJTC – that we reject liberal orthodoxy and try to explain the systemic forces that shape our cities; that Marx is useful; that we should see the city, and space itself, as a manifestation of surplus capital on the move; that we should dare to believe all this can be overcome – present an invitation to think about the city in a way that still feels vital. In this short piece, we try to think about SJTC in relation to a specific city to which we feel a connection (the inner-city of Athens, which is currently undergoing violent, dramatic transformation), which highlights some of the ways in which it is outdated – and many of the ways in which it is not.

KEYWORDS:

• Social Justice and the City
• Athens
• surplus capital
• rent
• touristification
• marxist geography

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Alkisti Prepi and Yorgos Michailidis for their warmth and generosity; the editors for the invitation, feedback, and encouragement; and each other, for the common ground.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In May 2023, the threshold for the Greek Golden Visa programme was raised to €500,000.