Solidarity and collective forms of social reproduction: the social and political legacy of Syntagma Square, Athens

ABSTRACT

The latest encampments in public spaces, such as Occupy Wall Street, Taksim Square and Syntagma Square, have highlighted the significance of public space in shaping social, economic and political struggles around the world. In this paper, drawing on a qualitative study of Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece, we confirm that spontaneous, self-organised movements, such as the Aganaktismenoi (Indignant) movement, could function as intermediaries between protest and resistance, leading to the institution of urban practices of commoning. We argue that the innovative attributes of such movements inspire and trigger the introduction of new decision-making mechanisms, social relationships and political subjectivities and the institution of solidarity and collective forms of social reproduction. We conclude that these initiatives constitute a radicalization of political struggles and have a positive effect both in terms of increased civic participation and the emergence of new collective identities and political subjectivities.

Los últimos campamentos en espacios públicos, como Occupy Wall Street, Taksim Square ySyntagma Square, han destacado la importancia del espacio público en la configuración de las luchas sociales, económicas ypolíticas en todo el mundo. En este artículo, basándose en un estudio cualitativo de la plaza Syntagma en Atenas, Grecia, confirmamos que los movimientos espontáneos yautoorganizados, como el movimiento Aganaktismenoi (Indignados), podrían funcionar como intermediarios entre la protesta yla resistencia, lo que llevó ala institución de prácticas comunitarias urbanas. Sostenemos que los atributos innovadores de tales movimientos inspiran ydesencadenan la introducción de nuevos mecanismos de toma de decisiones, relaciones sociales ysubjetividades políticas yla institución de la solidaridad yformas colectivas de reproducción social. Concluimos que estas iniciativas constituyen una radicalización de las luchas políticas ytienen un efecto positivo tanto en términos de una mayor participación ciudadana como en el surgimiento de nuevas identidades colectivas ysubjetividades políticas..

Les récentes occupations de lieux publics, telles qu’Occupy Wall Street et les révoltes des places Taksim et Syntagma, ont mis en évidence l’importance des lieux publics pour façonner les combats sociaux, économiques et politiques autour du monde. Dans cette communication, en nous appuyant sur une étude qualitative de la place Syntagma à Athènes, en Grèce, nous confirmons que les mouvements qui s’organisent d’eux-mêmes spontanément, tel que le mouvement Aganaktismenoi (les Indignés), pourraient fonctionner comme des intermédiaires entre la protestation et la résistance, menant à l’institution de pratiques urbaines de mise en commun. Nous soutenons que les attributs innovateurs de ces mouvements inspirent et provoquent l’introduction de nouveauxmécanismes de prises de décisions, de relations sociales et de subjectivités politiques et l’établissement de la solidarité et de formes collectives de réplication sociale. Nous concluons que ces initiatives constituent une radicalisation des luttes politiques et ont un effet positif à la fois en ce qui concerne l’accroissement de la participation civique et l’apparition de nouvelles identités collectives et de nouvelles subjectivités politiques.

KEYWORDS:

• Social movements
• resistance
• squares
• aganaktismenoi movement
• commoning practices

Palabras clave:

• movimientos sociales
• resistencia
• plazas
• movimiento Aganaktismenoi
• prácticas comunitarias

Mots-clefs:

• mouvements sociaux
• résistance
• places
• mouvement Aganaktismenoi
• pratiques de mise en commun

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Whenever massive protests with a clear anarchist background take place, the starting point of choice is Monastiraki Square (also located in central Athens, near Acropolis Hill).

2. The Aganaktismenoi movement started from calls in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, similar to the movements of the Arab Spring and Indignados.

3. Concerning political parties incorporated in the research, we note that SYRIZA was organized (2014) as a coalition of the euro-communist party of SYNASPISMOS and organizations of the radical left. KKE is the Greek Communist party, while ANTARSYA is a coalition of ex-parliamentary organizations of anti-capitalist, communist backgrounds. KKE did not partake in the Aganaktismenoi movement but had a strong presence in anti-austerity mobilizations of the same period, a great percentage of which took place in Syntagma Square.

4. In Athens, as in most cases all over the world, those mobilizations faced police brutality and suppression (Hadjimichalis, 2013; Koutrolikou, 2016; Leontidou, 2012; Mavrommatis, 2015).

5. Within this environment, KKE decided to abstain from the movements’ procedures accusing it as non-political. SYRIZA members participated individually but during interviews, they admitted that internal party procedures were taking place within local SYRIZA organizations so that the party members develop a common rhetoric and presence. This is also the case for the extra–parliamentary party of ANTARSYA that had an active engagement with the Syntagma Assembly’s organization and structure.

6. According to Castoriades (1975), ‘institution’ is every collective structure that fulfills societal needs, independent of its juridico-political status.