Where the dawn is golden … welcome to the crisis!

Golden Dawn and neo-fascism in Greece
lecture hold by John Malamatinas1
9th June / 8 p.m. / AZ Conni / Rudolf-Leonhard-Straße 39

organized by: AusserKontrolle, URA, Gruppe Polar, Rote Hilfe

Greece: At the onset of the crisis the rise of the neo-Nazi party “Golden Dawn” was a reason for concern about a massive swing to the right within society. But only the murder of the anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fissas caused the badly needed public outcry to take actions against the party. But already long before the murder of Fissas, migrants and refugees were harassed, beaten and murdered. This often happened in cooperation with the Greek police. There have been, among others, attacks on market stalls of people perceived as “non-Greek“, while police officers shielded the surroundings.

The entanglement of Golden Dawn with the previous government under Prime Minister Antonis Sammaras was hardly discussed in public. Also because of the widespread nationalism in the Greek population, the party becomes more and more approachable. At the moment there is an ongoing trial against the party leaders accused of running a criminal organization. This is a double-edged sword, as many people in Dresden might know, because the course of action of the authorities referred to „the theory of the two extremes“ and at the same time the ecological and social protests on the Greek peninsula Chalkidiki were criminalized.

The fact that racism, nationalism and neo-fascism are only recognized as a problem of Greek society after the death of a white male led to big debates within Greek anti-authoritarian groups and circles.

As a consequence of the crisis across Europe, Greece faces a growing fascist movement and simultaneously an authoritarian European austerity policy at state level (6). But how does a fascist movement in Greece differ from the New Right movements in the rest of Europe and what consequences does it have for the international networking of the right? What is the sphereof influence of the Right on the crisis-related policies of the institutions and countries of the European Union? What were the theoretical and practical conclusions drawn by anti-authoritarian forces in Greece?

John Malamatinas studies economics in Cologne and is a freelance journalist. He currently works on his book “Golden Dawn- Neo-fascism at Mount Olympus” that will be published in July by Unrast. His book „laboratory of crisis Greece – financial markets, struggles for Europe’s new order“ was written together with Detlef Hartmann and published by Assoziation A.