Living The Crisis: Identities And Materialities In A Transnational Greek Setting

Author

Leonidas Vournelis, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

5-1-2014

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Anthropology

First Advisor

Sutton, David

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the intersection between political rhetoric and popular ideas about the Greek debt crisis and processes of identification and differentiation within a Greek diasporic community. It documents the significant role the economic crisis has assumed in local political rhetoric and explores the ways in which it has enriched previously existing discourses of identification, reshaping long-standing political debates, and engendering opportunities for transnational mobilization. The researcher's aim is to link culturally specific discursive strategies, interpretative trajectories, personal histories and wider moral economies, showcasing some of the complexities in processes of ethnic identification and intra-group differentiation. In short, this dissertation uses the advances of critical anthropological theory on place, objects, discursive and sensory practices to frame the plurality of ideas and rhetoric about the crisis within political, economic, and cultural contexts.