Marxism and Greek Politics

Historical Materialism

Citizen of Empires – Marxist intellectual of the Greek Bourgeois Revolution: The Stageist Marxism of Giorgos Skliros.This paper aims to offer a systematic presentation of Giorgios Skliros’ Marxism as an outcome of his living experience in four different empires: the Ottoman, the German, the Russian and the British one. Despite Giorgos Skliros’ internationalist background, his theoretical and historical interventions which were written between 1907 and 1919 aimed to contribute to the national unification and economic modernization of his imagined “fatherland” through a successful bourgeois revolution that would establish those capitalist forms of relations that Greece as a country lacked at the time. This should be explained with reference to a stageist perception of historical development that Skliros embraced that was the combinational outcome of Georgi Plekhanov’ Marxism and Ernest Haeckel’s Darwinism. According to this understanding, the Liberal Politician Eleftherios Venizelos and the modernization program he endorsed at that time could help Greece to reach the necessary historical stage of bourgeois society that it had not completed yet. For that reason, Skliros from 1913 onwards focused his attempts to this liberal political initiative which he considered as the only viable solution for the future transition to socialism. Key contributor to this change would be the intellectual movement of Dimotikismos. These intellectuals, of which Skliros was an organic part, would push for reforms and would play the role of intellectual leadership endorsing the necessary dialectic between theory and praxis. Skliros though never succeed to become a genuine organic intellectual of the Greek working class since he never found himself in Greece and because Venizelism from the outset proved hostile to Marxism, even to the version of Second International’s stageist theories. Thus, the irony of a Marxist giving the battle from abroad for the national unification and economic modernization for the benefit of a country which he was never part of should be interpreted under this light.George Souvlis, (University of Crete / University of Ioannina.)Crisis, Authoritarian Neoliberalism, and the Return of “New Democracy” to power in GreeceYiannis Mylonas, Associate Professor, School of Media, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow This presentation is based on an article published by Stasis (http://stasisjournal.net/index.php/journal/article/view/180), and focuses on New Democracy (ND), Greece’s main conservative party, and its return to power in 2019. The study enquires into ND’s hegemonic strategy and governing practice. ND’s hegemonic strategy is grounded in both neoliberal and Far-Right premises. This enabled ND to create a hegemonic block that ranges from centrist liberals to far-rightists, while advancing an anti-leftist ideological project, connected to progressing upperclass interests. The ND administration unfolds an autocratic form of executive governance that is based on legislating class-related reforms, propaganda and effective control of the mainstream media, and coercive force. These features reflect the development of neoliberal authoritarianism in Greece. They represent “the new form of bourgeois republic in the current phase of capitalism,” bearing the traits of autocracy, illiberalism, and Far-Right mainstreaming. The study deploys examples from ND’s political discourse and from policies that the ND administration has launched.Yiannis Mylonas, (School of Media, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia)PLEASE NOTE: All events for HM Online are free to register, however we would ask comrades who are able to please consider making a donation, which would help us enormously in covering the costs of putting of this programme of events. Like all left organisations, HM has had a very tough period since the beginning of 2020 and our budgets are very stretched and bank balance is sinking all the time, with very little revenue coming in. If you can make a contribution to keep us afloat, please don’t hesitate! You can donate by selecting the 'donation' ticket type at registration.Once you have registered, a link to the live session will be emailed to you on the day of the event. For any technical queries please contact historicalmaterialism@soas.ac.ukPlease consider subscribing to the Historical Materialism journal, published by BRILL. www.brill.com/hima

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