The Greek Crisis

Course Information
TitleThe Greek Crisis / The Greek Crisis
CodeΚΕ0Ε46
FacultySocial and Economic Sciences
SchoolPolitical Sciences
Cycle / Level1st / Undergraduate, 2nd / Postgraduate
Teaching PeriodSpring
CoordinatorSpyros Marchetos
CommonYes
StatusActive
Course ID600014092

Class Information
Academic Year2018 – 2019
Class PeriodSpring
Faculty Instructors
Weekly Hours3
Class ID
600122739
Mode of Delivery
  • Face to face
Digital Course Content
Erasmus
The course is also offered to exchange programme students.
Language of Instruction
  • Greek (Examination)
  • English (Instruction, Examination)
  • French (Examination)
  • Italian (Examination)
Prerequisites
General Prerequisites
No special prerequisites, beyond critical thought and the expected interest in politics, economics, and history.
Learning Outcomes
On successfully completing this course, students will have learnt basic facts about the current crisis in Greece, and the main theories pertaining to explain it. They will be able to analyse its parametres, and also to trace its causes, its social, political, and economic consequences, and its possible outcomes. Also, to assess the role of political management by the Greek government and the EU institutions during the development of the crisis. And finally, to demystify racist stereotypes developed since the onset of the world crisis of capitalism against Greeks and against the peoples of periphery of the European Union.
General Competences
  • Apply knowledge in practice
  • Retrieve, analyse and synthesise data and information, with the use of necessary technologies
  • Adapt to new situations
  • Make decisions
  • Work autonomously
  • Work in teams
  • Work in an international context
  • Work in an interdisciplinary team
  • Generate new research ideas
  • Respect natural environment
  • Demonstrate social, professional and ethical commitment and sensitivity to gender issues
  • Be critical and self-critical
  • Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
In this course we study, from the perspective of contemporary history, the interwoven aspects of the financial, economic, political and humanitarian crisis that broke out in Greece in 2010 and continues unabated to the present day. First we examine its historical framework, and the youth revolt of December 2008. We focus then on its ramifications and impact on Greek society, public life, and personal experience of the persons living in Greece.We study the local and international economic developments and political choices that led to the official recognition of failure by the Greek state, as well as its institutional repercussions in the European Union. Placing it in the context of current geopolitical struggles and the capitalist system, we trace the factors that facilitated its development as well as those that hindered it, in comparative perspective with other countries on the periphery of the European Union. Focussing on the institutions, the political and financial groups, and the persons that played significant roles in its unfolding, we highlight the political discourses developed in its context. Finally, we study critically the various theories that developed in order to explain and interprete the crisis. Lesson contents 1. Basic terms: capitalist world-system, capitalism, empire, debt, financialisation, ideology, expropriatory accumulation, extreme Right, fascism, anti-debt movements, euro, Left, Right, extreme Right. 2. Financialised capitalism 3. The terminal crisis of the capitalist system 4. Greek debt and politics before financialisation 5. The crisis of Eurozone 6. Debt management in Greece after 2010 7. Social and political consequences of the economic crisis in Greece 8. Movements against expropriatory accumulation 9. The Debt Truth Committee of the Hellenic Parliament 10. Crisis and the rise of the extreme Right 11. Current prospects 12. Overview, recapitulation, open questions
Keywords
Capitalist World-system, Capitalist Mode of Production, Capitalism, Empire, Ideology, Expropriatory accumulation, Fascism, Anti-debt movements, Euro, Humanitarian crisis, Financial Crisis, Economic crisis, Greece, European Union, Eurozone, Theories of economic crisis, Democracy, Capitalism, Financialisation, Patriarchy, Gender, Social class, Race, Nationalism, Debt, Liberalism, Neoliberalism, Neoconservatism, Paleoconservatism, Marxism, Keynesianism, Post-keynesianism, Modern Monetary Theory, Degrowth, Left, Extreme Right, European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, Τroika.
Educational Material Types
  • Book
Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Use of ICT
  • Use of ICT in Course Teaching
Course Organization
ActivitiesWorkloadECTSIndividualTeamworkErasmus
Lectures391.4
Reading Assigment692.5
Exams20.1
Total1104
Student Assessment
Description
The requirement to get the 4 ECTS is to participate in the June written exams and answer decently, in about two pages, to two general questions on matters discussed during our course. Examinations are taken in Greek, English, French, or Italian. They include three separate questions, which must all be answered. The first two ones, needing lengthier answers, require the use of historical judgment; the third one checks your knowledge of pragmatological matters, and must be answered in order to get the grade 'excellent' (9 or 10 out of 10). Answers must be given in a clear logical structure, with articulated argumentation. They must combine relevant elements from the materials of our Course and the lectures attended, as well as from your general knowledge and your interaction with current affairs. They must show that you studied in depth the issues that we examine in this Course, exercising your judgment and avoiding the use of cliches, stereotypical expressions, or generalities. Essays marked with the grade 'excellent' show a critical spirit and are characterised by clarity and concision. A passing grade requires proven knowledge of the basic pragmatological elements of our Course. Essays not showing a serious study of the required texts fail.
Student Assessment methods
  • Written Exam with Extended Answer Questions (Summative)
Bibliography
Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
1) Costas Lapavitsas, Profiting Without Producing. How Finance Exploits Us All, Verso, Λονδινο, Νεα Υόρκη 2013. 2) Heiner Flassbeck, Costas Lapavitsas, Against The Troika. Crisis And Austerity In The Eurozone, foreword Oskar Lafontaine, preface Paul Mason, afterword Alberto Garzón Espinosa, Verso, London, New York 2015.
Additional bibliography for study
Supplementary Bibliography / Βιβλιογραφία για μελέτη Giovanni Arrighi, The long twentieth century: money, power, and the origins of our times, Verso, London, New York 1994. George Caffentzis, In Letters of Blood and Fire. Work, Machines, and the Crisis of Capitalism, PM Press, Ώκλαντ, Μπρούκλυν 2013. Bernard Connolly, The Rotten Heart Of Europe. The Dirty War For Europe's Money, Faber and Faber, Λονδίνο, Βοστώνη 1995. Nigel Dodd, The social life of money, Princeton University Press, Princeton, Oxford, 2014. Silvia Federici, Caliban and the Witch. Women, Body, and Primitive Accumulation, Autonomedia, Νέα Υόρκη 2004. Heiner Flassbeck, Costas Lapavitsas, Against The Troika. Crisis And Austerity In The Eurozone, foreword Oskar Lafontaine, preface Paul Mason, afterword Alberto Garzón Espinosa, Verso, London, New York 2015. David Graeber, Debt. The First 5.000 Years, Mellville House, Νέα Υόρκη 2011. Sandy Brian Hager, Public Debt, Inequality, and Power. The Making of a Modern Debt State, University of California Press, Oakland 2016. David Harvey, The New Imperialism, Oxford University Press, Οξφόρδη 2003. David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism, Oxford University Press, Οξφόρδη 2005. David Harvey, Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism, Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York 2014. Michael Hudson, The Bubble and Beyond. Fictitious Capital, Debt Deflation and Global Crisis, ISLET-Verlag, Dresden 2012. Greta R. Krippner, Capitalizing on Crisis, The Political Origins of the Rise of Finance, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, London, 2011. Costas Lapavitsas, A. Kaltenbrunner, G. Lambrinidis, D. Lindo, J. Meadway, J. Michell, J.P. Painceira, E. Pires, J. Powell, A. Stenfors, N. Teles, The Eurozone Between Austerity And Default, RMF Occasional Report September 2010, London 2010. Costas Lapavitsas, Profiting Without Producing. How Finance Exploits Us All, Verso, Λονδινο, Νεα Υόρκη 2013. Christina Laskaridis (ed.), False Dilemmas. An Introductory Guide to the Eurozone Debt Crisis, Corporate Watch, Λονδίνο 2014. Thomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, μετάφραση Arthur Goldhammer, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Καίμπριτζ Μασαχουσέτης, Λονδίνο 2014 [2013]. Wolfgang Streeck, Kathleen Thelen, Beyond continuity: institutional change in advanced political economies, Oxford University Press, Νέα Υόρκη 2005. Wolfgang Streeck, Buying Time: The Delayed Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, μετάφραση Patrick Camiller, Verso, Λονδίνο, Νέα Υόρκη 2014. Jan Toporowski, Why the World Economy Needs a Financial Crash and Other Critical Essays on Finance and Financial Economics, Anthem Press 2010. Eric Toussaint, Your Money or Your Life! The Tyranny of Global Finance, translation Raghu Krishnan, Vicki Briault Manus, Pluto Press, London 1999. Truth Committee on Public Debt, Preliminary Report. June 2015, Hellenic Parliament, Athens 2015. Truth Committee on Public Debt, Illegitimacy, Illegality, Odiousness and Unsustainability of the August 2015 MoU and Loan Agreement, Hellenic Parliament, Athens 2015. Further Reading / Βιβλιογραφία υποβαθρου Perry Anderson, The New Old World, Verso, Λονδίνο, Νέα Υόρκη 2009. Alexander Anievas, Kerem Nişancıoğlu, How the West Came to Rule: The Geopolitical Origins of Capitalism, Pluto Press, London 2015. Bastiaan van Apeldoorn, "Saving Europe for Whom? The Crisis of Neoliberal European Socio-Economic Governance", EUI Alumni Conference, Firenze 2011. Norberto Bobbio, Left and Right. The Significance of a Political Distinction, Translated and Introduced by Allan Cameron, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1996 [1994]. Geoff Eley, Forging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000, Oxford University Press, New York 2002. Tassos Giannitsis, Stavros Zografakis, Greece: Solidarity and Adjustment in Times of Crisis, Institut für Makroökonomie und Konjunkturforschung/ Macroeconomic Policy Institute, March 2015, at https://goo.gl/YgDtV8 . Judith L. Herman, Trauma and Recovery. The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror, Basic Books, New York 2015 [1992]. Michael Hudson, Killing the Host. How Financial Parasites and Debt Bondage Destroy the Global Economy, CounterPunch Books, Petrolia 2015. International Monetary Fund, IMF Country Report No.16/130, Greece. Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis. Updated Estimates And Further Considerations, International Monetary Fund Publication Services, Washington, September 2016. International Monetary Fund, Debt: Use it Wisely. Fiscal monitor, Ουάσιγκτον, Οκτώβριος 2016. Rosa Luxemburg, The Accumulation of Capital, μετάφραση Agnes Schwarzschild, εισαγωγή Tadeusz Kowalik, Routledge, Λονδίνο, Νέα Υόρκη 2003 [1913]. Costas Lapavitsas, Theodore Mariolis, Constantinos Gavrielides, Eurozone Failure, German Policies, and a New Path For Greece. Policy Analysis And Proposals, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Berlin 2017, p. 41. Karl Marx, Capital. A Critique of Political Economy, τ. Α΄, εισαγωγή Ernest Mandel, μετάφραση Ben Fowkes, Penguin Books, Χάρμοντζουερθ 1976. Arno J. Mayer, Dynamics of Counterrevolution in Europe, 1870 - 1956: An Analytic Framework, Harper Torchbooks, Νέα Υόρκη 1971. Alan S. Milward, George Brennan, Federico Romero, The European Rescue of the Nation-State, Routledge 2 London New York 2000. Alan S. Milward, Politics and Economics in the History of the European Union, Routledge, Abingdon, New York 2005. Kees van der Pijl, Global Rivalries From The Cold War To Iraq, Pluto Press, London, Ann Arbor 2006. Articles / Άρθρα David Harvey, "Is This Really the End of Neoliberalism?", Counterpunch 13-15 Μάρτη 2009, στο http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/03/13/is-this-really-the-end-of-neoliberalism/21 . David Malone, "Twilight of Justice", Golem XIV 26 Μαρτίου 2013. Ellen Meiksins Wood, "Modernity, postmodernity or capitalism?", Review of International Political Economy 4:3 [1997], pp. 539-560. Christian Morrisson, The Political Feasibility of Adjustment, Policy Brief No. 13, OECD 1996. Christian Morrisson, Adjustment And Equity, Policy Brief No. 1, OECD Development Centre 1992. Wolfgang Streeck, "Markets and Peoples. Democratic Capitalism and European Integration", New Left Review 73 [January-February 2012]. Wolfgang Streeck, "Why Europe Can't Function as it Stands", translated by Flossie Draper, November 7th, 2016, available at http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/2926-wolfgang-streeck-why-europe-can-t-function-as-it-stands Olivier Berruyer, "La servitude volontaire de la France. Interview of Emmanuel Todd for the French website les crises.fr", μετάφραση Anne-Marie de Grazia Olivier, διαθέσιμη στο http://www.les-crises.fr/todd-1-la-servitude-volontaire-de-la-france/ Benjamin Lemoine, "Interview with Eric Toussaint. History of the CADTM's Anti-debt Policies. Greece: Leaders' Ambivalence regarding debt and the financial system, even though resistance started on a promising note", . Paul Romer, "The Trouble With Macroeconomics", Address Delivered January 5, 2016 as the Commons Memorial Lecture of the Omicron Delta Epsilon Society. Forthcoming in The American Economist. Immanuel Wallerstein, "The Collapse Of Liberalism", The Socialist Register [1992], pp. 96-110. Justin Wellby, Αrchbishop of Canterbury, "You turned Greece into the "biggest debtor's prison in European history", 23/11/2016 Websites / Ιστοσελίδες Wall Street Journal: http://graphics.wsj.com/greece-debt-timeline/
Last Update
01-03-2018