Former PASOK leader Andreas Papandreou, as he appeared on Old PASOK - the Orthodox's Facebook page, with the caption: "The Movement forged in the factories and the soul of labour does not forget the leader... old PASOK - by the people - for the people - with the people". Credit: [Παλιό ΠΑΣΟΚ - Tο Ορθόδοξο / Facebook]. Fair useThe longstanding economic and political crisis in Greece has led to political disillusionment, a lack of trust in institutions, and a sense of collective powerlessness. Political antagonisms have subsided, suggesting Greece’s immersion into a post-ideological phase that is characterized by apathy, individualism, and a rise of counter-politics in the form of trolling.
It is possible to divide up the recent events in Greece into three periods. First, the rather ‘militant’ years of 2008-2012, characterized by high levels of societal conflict, protest, but also by belief in the possibility of political change. These years were followed by a period of more moderate struggle, canalized in the field of political representation, where massive protests gave their place to expectations from voting, and which resulted in the rise of SYRIZA to power in 2015. The period of intense re-negotiation with the institutions in charge of the bailout program culminated in the referendum of July 2015, where the bailout conditions were rejected by a majority of 61% of Greek citizens. This result was effectively ignored by SYRIZA, who nevertheless accepted a bailout package of further austerity measures. Thus a new, third period of Greek politics dawned: a period of disappointment and political disillusionment.
Almost half of all Greeks believe that Greece has a democracy in name only
