WUNRN
AMIDST THE SERIOUS GREEK ECONOMIC CRISIS NEGOTIATIONS –
LIMOS BUZZING IN BRUSSELS AT THE EU – RESEARCH PROVIDES
INSIGHTS INTO 3 GENERATIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN GREECE:
SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCES – MULTIGENERATIONAL GREEK WOMEN
Financial Times - http://www.ft.com/home/europe
Greece Economic Crisis Negotiations
John Aglionby, Ferdinando Giugliano
25 June 2015
- After a day of negotiations where little progress appears to have been made,
the Greek government has returned for further talks with its bailout monitors -
the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European
Central Bank - on Athens' reform plans.
Eurozone
finance ministers are now meeting to discuss two proposals, one from the
creditors and one from the Greeks, with ministers saying the two sides are
still pretty far apart. EU leaders are gathering for a long-scheduled two-day
summit later in the day and would approve any agreement that is reached.
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Social Science Research ISSN 2332-5534 Vol. 1, No. 1, 2014 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/wjssr 89 Original Paper
Greece – The Subjective Experiences of 3 Generations during the Greek Economic Crisis - Women
Athanasia Chalari1* 1 Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Worcester, UK; Research Associate, Hellenic Observatory, LSE * Athanasia Chalari, E-mail: a.chalari@worc.ac.uk
Direct Link to Full 21-Page Text: http://www.lse.ac.uk/europeanInstitute/research/hellenicObservatory/CMS%20pdf/Publications/The-Subjective-Experiences-of-Three-Generations-during-the-Greek-Economic-Crisis--Athanasia-Chalari.pdf
The aim of this study is to investigate how Greeks as individuals experience the ways society is changing and to understand the lived experiences of the Greek economic crisis, as an example of the global economic crisis. This study focuses on the ways three different generations experience the Greek crisis: the younger (20-30), the middle (30-40) and the older (40-55) by examining the different ways that lived experiences are revealed. It has been confirmed that the impact of the dramatic economic, political, historical and social transformations in Greece is twofold: there has been an undeniably negative and harmful effect on Greeks’ everyday lives as well as a re-prioritisation of ways of thinking, acting and behaving.
The Greek case serves as an example of a society that is currently undergoing significant social, political and economic alterations reflected in the dramatic change in everyday living, thinking and acting. This study may provide an initial overview of the possible effect of social changes that individuals have to confront in their everyday lives due to the consequences of the economic depression. Keywords modern greek society, crisis, subjective experiences, different generations, social change 1. Introduction Greek society has always suffered from certain dysfunctions especially with regard to economic and political orientation. Modern Greek society (especially since 2008) is currently undergoing additional complexities due to the global economic recession, which it has not been able to handle or control.
The reason for such incapability lies with the extremely poor politico-economic foundations, which inevitably allowed Greek society to become exposed and particularly vulnerable to such crisis. The main failure of Greece remains its inability to handle the uncontrollable debt inherited from older generations, which has magnified during the last ten years. In 2010 the national debt played at 112% of GDP and it was expected to rise to 149% by 2013 (Knight, 2012 (a), p. 353). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/wjssr World Journal of Social Science Research Vol. 1, No. 1, 2014 90 Published by SCHOLINK INC.
For that reason, and due to its membership in the European Union (EU), Greece has asked for the contribution of the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in turn have implemented a sequence of unprecedented austerity measures in their (so far) unsuccessful attempt to control the country’s enormous debt. Such measures, however, have consequently caused analogously disruptive destabilization in Greek society and this has dramatically affected the everyday lives of Greeks. Since such measures have not been implemented in any other EU country before, the possible political and social consequences have not been effectively calculated or, in many respects, even anticipated.
One serious consequence of the economic crisis relates to the large increase in suicides. Greece used to have one of the lowest rates in the EU, however, according to the Hellenic Statistical Authority,1 suicides and suicide attempts increased by 17% between 2007-2009 and thereafter there has been an annual increase that could be up to 22.5% (although it is estimated that since 2012 this percentage has increased to 40%). According to the Greek media2 1,245 suicides (attempted and carried out) were reported between 2009-2012, although the Ministry of Public Order estimates that the actual number is 3,124. According to Knight (2012a) the increase in suicide rates in Greece has become an commonplace topic for public discussion, whereas before the crisis, suicides were less of a norm. Durkheim (1951), in his classic study on suicide, further confirms that suicide rates increase during periods of depression and weak social solidarity.......