The rise and retreat of Syriza: an interview with Michalis Spourdalakis

Abstract

Syriza is the only radical Left party to be elected a national governing party since the worldwide economic crisis began in 2008. In this interview with political theorist Michalis Spourdalakis, a founding member of Syriza, we discuss the unique strategic relationships between social movements and the new radical Left parties such as Syriza, the struggle to maintain the party’s independence amid co-optation into the Greek state and broader European Institutions, and what the Syriza experience can teach us about attempts to transform capitalist states.

Keywords:

• Syriza
• Greece
• radical Left parties
• Eurozone
• austerity

Notes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

About the author

Paul Christopher Gray teaches in the Departments of Labour Studies and Political Science at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

Notes

1 Mair, Ruling the Void, 81–83; March, “Radical Left Parties,” 203–10.

2 Bale and Dunphy, “In From the Cold?” 275.

3 Lafrance and Príncipe, “Building ‘Parties of a New Type’.”

4 Hellenic Statistical Authority.

5 Zettelmeyer, “The Eurogroup on Greece.”

6 University of Macedonia; Chrysopoulos, “New Poll Shows New Democracy.”