Who resists in Athens? Organisation, autonomy, and grassroots dynamics in times of austerity

Abstract

The welfare of the city of Athens, smothered with austerity measures, is a battleground state. Bottom-up organisations, influenced by the proposal of the ‘Square Movement’, must confront with management, financing and even political invasion from above. Some among these, particularly in the flimsy intersection between migrants’ hospitality and housing needs, found a middle ground. Here we tried to identify, among the ones operating below the institutional level, those organisations that bear the sings of a “collective resistance”. The result of the investigation was a contradictory mosaic, since each actor exposed both the potential and limits of its practices. Nevertheless, it was deemed worth highlighting the most interesting features of the autonomous experiences, eventually considering the ‘Argentinian risk’: an institutional intrusion that depoliticises the independence of these actors.