Is there any way to support small markets and small producers through policy?
This is podcast no... more Is there any way to support small markets and small producers through policy?
This is podcast no 8 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What is the role of small producers and small markets in an emergency or a crisis?
This is podca... more What is the role of small producers and small markets in an emergency or a crisis?
This is podcast no 7 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What is a small market?
This is podcast no 2 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared wit... more What is a small market?
This is podcast no 2 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What are small distribution circuits important?
This is podcast no 4 from the Small Markets Podc... more What are small distribution circuits important?
This is podcast no 4 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What is the role of small markets in the local economy
This is podcast no 5 from the Small Marke... more What is the role of small markets in the local economy
This is podcast no 5 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
How this project about small markets came up.
This is podcast no 1 from the Small Markets Podca... more How this project about small markets came up.
This is podcast no 1 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What is small production? What is a small producer?
This is podcast no 3 from the Small Markets ... more What is small production? What is a small producer?
This is podcast no 3 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
Is there any small production that is not monetised? How important is it?
This is podcast no 6 ... more Is there any small production that is not monetised? How important is it?
This is podcast no 6 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
Elsevier Reference Collection in Social Sciences & Encyclopedia of Monetary Policy, Financial Markets and Banking, 2023
This is the chapter that has been published on 28.7.2023 in the Elsevier "Reference Collection in... more This is the chapter that has been published on 28.7.2023 in the Elsevier "Reference Collection in Social Sciences" and will be a chapter of the "Encyclopedia of Monetary Policy, Financial Markets and Banking" that will be released as a full compilation in 2025, under the editing of Prof. N.Apergis.
The entry describes various types of currencies that are used along with the official ones in various economies of the 21st century, the main historical precedents and main debates concerning the character of the currencies and their use. The chapter includes examples like digital currencies and specialized currencies aiming at achieving a designated goal within the economy
Μελέτη στο συλλογικό τόμο επιμέλειας Ν.Βαϊου, Γ.Πετράκη & Μ.Στρατηγάκη προς τιμή της Καίτης Παπαρ... more Μελέτη στο συλλογικό τόμο επιμέλειας Ν.Βαϊου, Γ.Πετράκη & Μ.Στρατηγάκη προς τιμή της Καίτης Παπαρρήγα -Κωσταβάρα (2021) "Έμφυλη βία - Βία κατά των γυναικών", Εκδόσεις Αλεξάνδρεια, Αθήνα, σελ. 197-212.
Chapter in the volume edited by D.Vaiou, G.Petraki & M.Stratigaki in honour of Kaiti Paparriga-Kostavara (2021) "Gender-based violence - Violence against women", Alexandria Publishing, Athens, pp. 197-212. The paper has been published in Greek.
Περίληψη: Η παρούσα μελέτη εξετάζει την πατριαρχική βία, τόσο συστηματική όσο και περιστασιακή, που προκύπτει —κατά καιρούς— σε πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης. Η πατριαρχική βία στις συλλογικότητες έχει, συνήθως, αρνητικά αποτελέσματα πρωτίστως για τα θύματα της βίας, κατόπιν για την αλληλεγγύη και τους στόχους της και εν τέλει για τις ίδιες τις πρωτοβουλίες ως οργανώσεις. Οι ερωτήσεις και τα περιστατικά που, έχοντας καταστεί ανώνυμα, χρησιμοποιούνται σ’ αυτή τη μελέτη, προέρχονται από μακροχρόνια επιτόπια έρευνα στην Ελλάδα, ενώ χρησιμοποιούνται και παραδείγματα από δημοσιευμένα περιστατικά. Ως αναλυτικό εργαλείο χρησιμοποιείται η έννοια της εργασίας αλληλεγγύης και οι άνθρωποι που την παρέχουν ονομάζονται εργάτριες και εργάτες αλληλεγγύης. Από όσα ξέρουμε μέχρι στιγμής, οι πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης έχουν —κατά συντριπτική πλειονότητα— μέλη από την εργατική τάξη και οι γυναίκες υπερτερούν αριθμητικά των ανδρών. Χρησιμοποιώντας φεμινιστικές και αποαποικιακές (decolonial) προσεγγίσεις, αναλύω, κατά πρώτο λόγο, ζητήματα σχετικά με τη συστημική βία που εξαναγκάζει συγκεκριμένες κοινωνικές ομάδες να προβαίνουν σε αυτοεκμετάλλευση, υπερεργασία ή και αναγκαστική παροχή υπηρεσιών. Κυρίως όμως, η πατριαρχική βία μέσα στις πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης, εξαιτίας της εκτεταμένης εργασίας που περιλαμβάνουν, αναιρεί το πρόταγμα της αλληλεγγύης και ενίοτε τρέπει αυτές σε υποστηρικτικές δομές ή τουλάχιστον αναπαραγωγικές της καπιταλιστικής πατριαρχίας.
Abstract: The present study examines patriarchal violence, both systematic and occasional, that arises - at times - in solidarity initiatives. Patriarchal violence in collectives usually has negative effects primarily on the victims of violence, then on solidarity and its goals, and finally on the initiatives themselves as organisations. The questions and incidents that, after been anonymised, are used in this study, come from long-term field research in Greece, while examples from published incidents are also used. The concept of solidarity work is used as an analytical tool and the people who provide it are called solidarity workers. To the best of our knowledge so far, solidarity initiatives have an overwhelming majority of working-class members, and women outnumber men. Using feminist and decolonial approaches, I analyse, first of all, issues related to the systemic violence that forces certain social groups to self-exploitation, overwork or even forced provision of service. Above all, however, patriarchal violence within solidarity initiatives, because of the extensive work they involve, nullifies the solidarity project and sometimes turns the initiatives into structures supporting, or at least reproducing capitalist patriarchy.
This is the paper that has been published with the Bio-Based and Applied Economics journal. DOI: ... more This is the paper that has been published with the Bio-Based and Applied Economics journal. DOI: 10.36253/bae-9534
Abstract:
Over the past decade, the term bioeconomy has emerged in both policy and academic discourse. Implying a technology-driven approach to wealth generation from organic materials, the term has taken hold with so far limited critical engagement. It is a contestable rather than contested term. Noting the rise of numerous other ‘economies’ (blue, green, circular) on a similar timeframe, this paper undertakes a critical discourse analysis of academic literature and UK/EU policy documents using the term ‘bioeconomy’ to produce a contextualized understanding of how it is used in both theoretical and practical contexts. Our analysis shows that bioeconomy, as with the other ‘sustainability’ economies, which we term the ‘S-economies’, prioritises the economy and the markets as the solution brokers for the environmental and economic problems they seek to address. The apparent fragmentation of the theory and policy concerning the environmental sustainability of economic activity is expressed through the variability of terms that aspire to establish multiple economies functioning at the same time. Limited empirical analysis of the existing ‘bioeconomy’ is symptomatic of the dissociation between theory and practice, emphasizing technological approaches favouring capital intensive approaches over local solutions. The S-economies, including the bioeconomy, are an attempt to bypass economic structural realities that otherwise would need to be addressed.
Accelerating the progress towards the 2030 SDGs in times of crisis, 2021
This is a chapter of the edited volume by Catrin Johansson and Volker Mauerhofer (2021)"Accelerat... more This is a chapter of the edited volume by Catrin Johansson and Volker Mauerhofer (2021)"Accelerating the progress towards the 2030 SDGs in times of crisis", Östersund: Mittuniversitetet, pp. 1301-1321.
Abstract: This paper discusses the bioeconomic processes of small production and small distribution modes in East Yorkshire, UK. In particular, the focus is on whether and how this small-scale bioeconomy is connected to sustainable practices and in what way those practices are supporting the local ecosystems, including the human ones. The paper is related to the wider debate about the character of the bioeconomy as a sustainability initiative. We take a critical position concerning this issue. We do not consider the bioeconomy in general as an inherently sustainable way for organising production and distribution of goods and services. Within this framework, we investigate in our research project, whether small production and small distribution as bioeconomic processes include any practices that can support both environmental and social sustainability. The paper (part of the Research England funded THYME project, dedicated to the bioeconomy in the North East of England) focuses on farmers' markets in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Using data from interviews and observations we present and discuss findings about the local small markets and how the producers, traders or even consumers involved with them are linking their market activity to greater sustainability efforts. The major finding is that at least the food part of the small markets in East Yorkshire is very locally embedded. The nomadic character of the market traders and producers means that locally produced goods reach small places without the customers needing to concentrate in a nearby big trade centre, like a city market or a big supermarket. At the same time, the traders and producers try to avoid wasting produce as much as possible by adopting various practices, including sharing, non-monetary distribution and donations. The paper contributes to the discussions related to SDGs 2 (zero hunger), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 13 (climate action).
Published in the Journal of Risk and Financial Management, vol. 14.
This paper examines the pers... more Published in the Journal of Risk and Financial Management, vol. 14.
This paper examines the persistent food shortages in the island of Crete under Venetian rule (1204–1669) through the prism of the monetary system of Venetian territories and in combination with the other economic policies of the Venetian empire. From the available sources and analysis, it seems that the policies of Venice which prioritised the food security of the metropolis, the financial support to the elites, and the elite-favouring monetary and taxation system were contradictory and self-defeating. In particular, the monetary structure of the colonial economy and the taxation system seem to have been forcing both Cretans and Venetian settlers to produce wine for export instead of grain despite the repeated food shortages. The parallel circulation of various high-value (white money) and low-value (black money) currencies in the same economy and the insistence of the Venetian administration to receive taxes in white money seems to have been consistently undermining the food security policy adopted by the same authorities. The paper contributes to the discussion of how parallel currencies can stabilise an economy or can create structural destabilisation propensities, depending on coeval economic structures that usually go unexamined when we examine monetary instruments.
Keywords: parallel currencies; black money; white money; Venice; Crete; food security
Economia Solidaria y Social y Genero: Aportes Transdisciplinarios de Europa y America Latina (Social and Solidarity Economy and gender: Transdisciplinary contributions from Europe and Latin America), 2020
During the last years, particularly since 2009 onwards, schemes which enable their members to per... more During the last years, particularly since 2009 onwards, schemes which enable their members to perform transactions without the use of official currency, are emerging and developing all over Greece. At almost the same time, collective grassroots arrangements for the provision of health and education services, like social medical centres and social educational centres, and for the provision of food, like collective land cultivation and the organisation of social kitchens, aspire to cover certain community needs which are not met anymore by the deteriorating individual income of citizens and by the public sector, which is under severe expenditure cuts.
Women are well involved in all those schemes, in both their coordination and management, but also in the production and sharing practices which are necessary in order that the schemes work. Not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of decision-making, women have very important roles within the schemes and their contributions are clearly (considered as) needed, respected and praised.
However, the main question concerning women’s involvement in schemes where people do not use the official currency and/or try to undertake economic activities within a framework of solidarity instead of competition is: How do women handle the tension between the obligatory nature of their choices, given the high unemployment and poverty rates and the public expenditure cuts in terms of social services, and the will to explore new ways of arranging the satisfaction of individual and community material needs beyond the mainstream, capitalist and patriarchal market?
The paper’s scope is to examine some main issues concerning this tension and how this is expressed through practical problems which the scheme members need to resolve in order to develop their activities and cover the needs aimed at. How do the scheme members, particularly women, find materials which are only produced in the mainstream market like medicines, books or certain food materials, which are needed within the schemes? How time management is important within the scheme and how do women cope with multiple tasks, their own personal, family and community needs and the needs of the scheme? How do scheme politics are affecting the role(s) of women within and outside the scheme, how tensions and disputes are resolved, how resources are allocated and re-shared so that the increasing individual, household and community needs are satisfied?
The paper includes field data acquired through empirical research, by the methods of observation by participation, text analysis, and the conduct of interviews with research participants.
Keywords: Greece, women, solidarity structures, transactions without official currency, community needs.
The paper sets the conceptual and practical framework for the use of quantitative methods in rese... more The paper sets the conceptual and practical framework for the use of quantitative methods in research in Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). The quantitative methods we have in economics at the moment are not appropriate for understanding SSE in terms of quantity and this creates limitations for understanding the activity but mostly for knowledge exchanges between researchers and practitioners. The quest for appropriate quantitative methods has been an emergent trend in several fields of activism, policy making and research, like gender equality, indigenous environmental knowledge but mostly sustainability, both environmental and social. Within this general framework, the papers focuses on SSE activities that do not use official currency, like: parallel currencies, exchange networks, free bazaars and online networks, and various solidarity initiatives, like social kitchens, social clinics or collective cultivations. The people involved in the SSE choose to explore quantities that go unnoticed in mainstream quantitative methods. Their discourse and practice is full of quantitative understandings, which are basic for the entire activity to take place and be successful in its terms, but they elude completely the quantitative understandings and methods we have at the moment in economics or other social sciences. The paper draws examples from international literature but mostly from the author’s research on this type of economic activity in Greece. The author has experimented through her research with the concept of quantity, the alternative ways of collecting quantitative data and constructing questionnaire/survey questions and the possibilities of using other approaches of quantity in economic research.
The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, 2019
Το κεφάλαιο αναλύει ένα λαϊκό παραμύθι από την Κρήτη, που αναφέρεται στην χρήση της τεχνολογίας κ... more Το κεφάλαιο αναλύει ένα λαϊκό παραμύθι από την Κρήτη, που αναφέρεται στην χρήση της τεχνολογίας και στις επιπτώσεις της χρήσης αυτής όταν είναι υπό τον έλεγχο διάφορων κοινωνικών τάξεων. Το κεφάλαιο βρίσκεται στον συλλογικό τόμο των W.G.Mullins & P.Batra-Wells (eds) (2019) The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, Utah State University Press-University Press of Colorado, pp. 214-233.
The chapter analyses a folk tale from Crete island, referring to the use of technology and the impact of that use when technology is under the control of different social classes. Chapter 10 in W.G.Mullins & P.Batra-Wells (eds) (2019) The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, Utah State University Press-University Press of Colorado, pp. 214-233.
D.Wheatley (ed): Handbook of Research Methods on the Quality of Working Lives, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019
Abstract:
The chapter explores violence, both systemic and incidental, that a social researcher ... more Abstract:
The chapter explores violence, both systemic and incidental, that a social researcher may encounter during field research. The questions and anonymised cases used in this chapter stem from field research concerning public spaces of work related to, or organized by, social movements and grassroots initiatives. This work is usually defined as “unpaid” or “volunteering”, but also encapsulates work performed within arrangements of collective production beyond the paid–unpaid binary. Feminist and decolonial approaches are used to analyse ethical questions related to the stance a researcher may employ in social contexts where structural violence already exists (a patriarchal–racist–capitalist society) and where new incidents of physical or psychological violence may emerge and come to the researcher’s attention. The chapter employs the stance that when violence exists in or against a community this is a research finding that affects the integrity of the researcher, of the research, and the well-being of focus communities.
Keywords: violence, field research, unpaid labour, grassroots movements, research ethics
In: Kate Power, Tanweer Ali & Eva Lebduskova, editors (2019): Discourse analysis and austerity: C... more In: Kate Power, Tanweer Ali & Eva Lebduskova, editors (2019): Discourse analysis and austerity: Critical studies from economics and linguistics, Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 80-107.
Στο: Kate Power, Tanweer Ali & Eva Lebduskova, editors (2019): Discourse analysis and austerity: Critical studies from economics and linguistics, Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group, σελ. 80-107.
[Περίληψη στα ελληνικά μετά το αγγλικό κείμενο]
Our research focuses on both the discourse concerning the role of a State/government in austerity context and on what the practice of austerity policies imply for the role of the State in the economy. We use two countries, Argentina and Greece, as case studies in order to investigate, first in which ways the discourse about the role of the State supported austerity policies and created a conceptual framework for further promotion of neoliberal reforms; and second, whether and to what extent the “less State” argument was a cover for changing or even expanding the role of the central government to directly benefit capitalist agents and redistribute social wealth in favour of the few.
By putting the debate on the role of the State at the center of our analysis, we found out that the State has a central role in austerity policies and without its firm, even violent, intervention, those policies would not be possible to be implemented. In contrast to the discourse, the State is not “reduced” but enhanced or expanded to a different direction.
We used historical and contemporary information in order to examine how the “less State” argument has been used in both Argentina and Greece during the last decades. Our analysis takes into account the different historical and social contexts of the two countries, for example, the blood-thirsty anti-communist “preventive counterrevolution” in Argentina, or Greece’s participation in the Eurozone. However, differences are intertwined with several major commonalities in neoliberal policies in both countries, like the destruction of hundreds of thousands of job positions, the impoverishment of the majority of the population, the breakdown of public services and previously established social rights, the privatisation of the commons and several public goods and services and the acute repression of emerging resistances.
“Λιγότερο Κράτος” στη λιτότητα: Μια έννοια που κρύβει τον κεντρικό φορέα των νεοφιλελεύθερων πολιτικών
Η έρευνά μας επικεντρώνεται τόσο στον λόγο αναφορικά με το ρόλο του Κράτους/κυβέρνησης σε ένα πλαίσιο λιτότητας όσο και στο τί συνεπάγονται οι πολιτικές λιτότητας για τον ρόλο του Κράτους στην οικονομία. Χρησιμοποιούμε δύο χώρες, την Αργεντινή και την Ελλάδα, ως περιπτωσιολογικές μελέτες ώστε να διερευνήσουμε, πρώτον με ποιούς τρόπους ο λόγος για τον ρόλο του Κράτους στήριξε τις πολιτικές λιτότητας και δημιούργησε ένα εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο για περαιτέρω προώθηση νεοφιλελεύθερων μεταρρυθμίσεων. Και δεύτερον, για να διερευνήσουμε εάν και σε ποιά έκταση το επιχείρημα για «λιγότερο Κράτος» ήταν μια επικάλυψη για να μεταβληθεί ή ακόμη και να επεκταθεί ο ρόλος της κεντρικής κυβέρνησης ώστε να ωφελήσει ευθέως καπιταλιστικούς φορείς και να αναδιανείμει τον κοινωνικό πλούτο εις όφελος των λίγων.
Θέτοντας τον διαξιφισμό για τον ρόλο του Κράτος στο κέντρο της ανάλυσής μας, βρήκαμε ότι το Κράτος έχει κεντρικό ρόλο στις πολιτικές λιτότητας και χωρίς την σταθερή, ακόμη και βίαιη, παρέμβασή του αυτές οι πολιτικές δεν θα μπορούσαν να εφαρμοστούν. Αντίθετα προς τον (δημόσιο) λόγο, το Κράτος δεν «μειώνεται» αλλά ενισχύεται ή επεκτείνεται σε διαφορετική κατεύθυνση.
Χρησιμοποιήσαμε ιστορικές και σύγχρονες πληροφορίες ώστε να εξετάσουμε πώς το επιχείρημα για "λιγότερο Κράτος» χρησιμοποιήθηκε στην Αργεντινή και στην Ελλάδα τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες. Η ανάλυσή μας λαμβάνει υπ’ όψη τα διαφορετικά ιστορικά και κοινωνικά πλαίσια των δύο χωρών, για παράδειγμα, την αιμοσταγή αντικομμουνιστική «προληπτική αντεπανάσταση» στην Αργεντινή, ή την συμμετοχή της Ελλάδας στην Ευρωζώνη. Εντούτοις, οι διαφορές συμπλέκονται με πολλά μείζονα κοινά σημεία στις νεοφιλελεύθερες πολιτικές και στις δυο χώρες, όπως η καταστροφή εκατοντάδων χιλιάδων θέσεων εργασίας, η εκφτώχυνση της πλειοψηφίας του πληθυσμού, η κατάρρευση των δημοσίων υπηρεσιών και των προηγουμένως καθιερωμένων κοινωνικών δικαιωμάτων, η ιδιωτικοποίηση των κοινών και διαφόρων δημοσίων αγαθών και η οξεία καταστολή των αναδυόμενων αντιστάσεων.
Λέξεις-Κλειδιά: Κράτος, λιτότητα, κοινωνικό κράτος, ιδιωτικοποιήσεις, απορρύθμιση, Αργεντινή, Ελλάδα.
Is there any way to support small markets and small producers through policy?
This is podcast no... more Is there any way to support small markets and small producers through policy?
This is podcast no 8 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What is the role of small producers and small markets in an emergency or a crisis?
This is podca... more What is the role of small producers and small markets in an emergency or a crisis?
This is podcast no 7 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What is a small market?
This is podcast no 2 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared wit... more What is a small market?
This is podcast no 2 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What are small distribution circuits important?
This is podcast no 4 from the Small Markets Podc... more What are small distribution circuits important?
This is podcast no 4 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What is the role of small markets in the local economy
This is podcast no 5 from the Small Marke... more What is the role of small markets in the local economy
This is podcast no 5 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
How this project about small markets came up.
This is podcast no 1 from the Small Markets Podca... more How this project about small markets came up.
This is podcast no 1 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
What is small production? What is a small producer?
This is podcast no 3 from the Small Markets ... more What is small production? What is a small producer?
This is podcast no 3 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
Is there any small production that is not monetised? How important is it?
This is podcast no 6 ... more Is there any small production that is not monetised? How important is it?
This is podcast no 6 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
Elsevier Reference Collection in Social Sciences & Encyclopedia of Monetary Policy, Financial Markets and Banking, 2023
This is the chapter that has been published on 28.7.2023 in the Elsevier "Reference Collection in... more This is the chapter that has been published on 28.7.2023 in the Elsevier "Reference Collection in Social Sciences" and will be a chapter of the "Encyclopedia of Monetary Policy, Financial Markets and Banking" that will be released as a full compilation in 2025, under the editing of Prof. N.Apergis.
The entry describes various types of currencies that are used along with the official ones in various economies of the 21st century, the main historical precedents and main debates concerning the character of the currencies and their use. The chapter includes examples like digital currencies and specialized currencies aiming at achieving a designated goal within the economy
Μελέτη στο συλλογικό τόμο επιμέλειας Ν.Βαϊου, Γ.Πετράκη & Μ.Στρατηγάκη προς τιμή της Καίτης Παπαρ... more Μελέτη στο συλλογικό τόμο επιμέλειας Ν.Βαϊου, Γ.Πετράκη & Μ.Στρατηγάκη προς τιμή της Καίτης Παπαρρήγα -Κωσταβάρα (2021) "Έμφυλη βία - Βία κατά των γυναικών", Εκδόσεις Αλεξάνδρεια, Αθήνα, σελ. 197-212.
Chapter in the volume edited by D.Vaiou, G.Petraki & M.Stratigaki in honour of Kaiti Paparriga-Kostavara (2021) "Gender-based violence - Violence against women", Alexandria Publishing, Athens, pp. 197-212. The paper has been published in Greek.
Περίληψη: Η παρούσα μελέτη εξετάζει την πατριαρχική βία, τόσο συστηματική όσο και περιστασιακή, που προκύπτει —κατά καιρούς— σε πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης. Η πατριαρχική βία στις συλλογικότητες έχει, συνήθως, αρνητικά αποτελέσματα πρωτίστως για τα θύματα της βίας, κατόπιν για την αλληλεγγύη και τους στόχους της και εν τέλει για τις ίδιες τις πρωτοβουλίες ως οργανώσεις. Οι ερωτήσεις και τα περιστατικά που, έχοντας καταστεί ανώνυμα, χρησιμοποιούνται σ’ αυτή τη μελέτη, προέρχονται από μακροχρόνια επιτόπια έρευνα στην Ελλάδα, ενώ χρησιμοποιούνται και παραδείγματα από δημοσιευμένα περιστατικά. Ως αναλυτικό εργαλείο χρησιμοποιείται η έννοια της εργασίας αλληλεγγύης και οι άνθρωποι που την παρέχουν ονομάζονται εργάτριες και εργάτες αλληλεγγύης. Από όσα ξέρουμε μέχρι στιγμής, οι πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης έχουν —κατά συντριπτική πλειονότητα— μέλη από την εργατική τάξη και οι γυναίκες υπερτερούν αριθμητικά των ανδρών. Χρησιμοποιώντας φεμινιστικές και αποαποικιακές (decolonial) προσεγγίσεις, αναλύω, κατά πρώτο λόγο, ζητήματα σχετικά με τη συστημική βία που εξαναγκάζει συγκεκριμένες κοινωνικές ομάδες να προβαίνουν σε αυτοεκμετάλλευση, υπερεργασία ή και αναγκαστική παροχή υπηρεσιών. Κυρίως όμως, η πατριαρχική βία μέσα στις πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης, εξαιτίας της εκτεταμένης εργασίας που περιλαμβάνουν, αναιρεί το πρόταγμα της αλληλεγγύης και ενίοτε τρέπει αυτές σε υποστηρικτικές δομές ή τουλάχιστον αναπαραγωγικές της καπιταλιστικής πατριαρχίας.
Abstract: The present study examines patriarchal violence, both systematic and occasional, that arises - at times - in solidarity initiatives. Patriarchal violence in collectives usually has negative effects primarily on the victims of violence, then on solidarity and its goals, and finally on the initiatives themselves as organisations. The questions and incidents that, after been anonymised, are used in this study, come from long-term field research in Greece, while examples from published incidents are also used. The concept of solidarity work is used as an analytical tool and the people who provide it are called solidarity workers. To the best of our knowledge so far, solidarity initiatives have an overwhelming majority of working-class members, and women outnumber men. Using feminist and decolonial approaches, I analyse, first of all, issues related to the systemic violence that forces certain social groups to self-exploitation, overwork or even forced provision of service. Above all, however, patriarchal violence within solidarity initiatives, because of the extensive work they involve, nullifies the solidarity project and sometimes turns the initiatives into structures supporting, or at least reproducing capitalist patriarchy.
This is the paper that has been published with the Bio-Based and Applied Economics journal. DOI: ... more This is the paper that has been published with the Bio-Based and Applied Economics journal. DOI: 10.36253/bae-9534
Abstract:
Over the past decade, the term bioeconomy has emerged in both policy and academic discourse. Implying a technology-driven approach to wealth generation from organic materials, the term has taken hold with so far limited critical engagement. It is a contestable rather than contested term. Noting the rise of numerous other ‘economies’ (blue, green, circular) on a similar timeframe, this paper undertakes a critical discourse analysis of academic literature and UK/EU policy documents using the term ‘bioeconomy’ to produce a contextualized understanding of how it is used in both theoretical and practical contexts. Our analysis shows that bioeconomy, as with the other ‘sustainability’ economies, which we term the ‘S-economies’, prioritises the economy and the markets as the solution brokers for the environmental and economic problems they seek to address. The apparent fragmentation of the theory and policy concerning the environmental sustainability of economic activity is expressed through the variability of terms that aspire to establish multiple economies functioning at the same time. Limited empirical analysis of the existing ‘bioeconomy’ is symptomatic of the dissociation between theory and practice, emphasizing technological approaches favouring capital intensive approaches over local solutions. The S-economies, including the bioeconomy, are an attempt to bypass economic structural realities that otherwise would need to be addressed.
Accelerating the progress towards the 2030 SDGs in times of crisis, 2021
This is a chapter of the edited volume by Catrin Johansson and Volker Mauerhofer (2021)"Accelerat... more This is a chapter of the edited volume by Catrin Johansson and Volker Mauerhofer (2021)"Accelerating the progress towards the 2030 SDGs in times of crisis", Östersund: Mittuniversitetet, pp. 1301-1321.
Abstract: This paper discusses the bioeconomic processes of small production and small distribution modes in East Yorkshire, UK. In particular, the focus is on whether and how this small-scale bioeconomy is connected to sustainable practices and in what way those practices are supporting the local ecosystems, including the human ones. The paper is related to the wider debate about the character of the bioeconomy as a sustainability initiative. We take a critical position concerning this issue. We do not consider the bioeconomy in general as an inherently sustainable way for organising production and distribution of goods and services. Within this framework, we investigate in our research project, whether small production and small distribution as bioeconomic processes include any practices that can support both environmental and social sustainability. The paper (part of the Research England funded THYME project, dedicated to the bioeconomy in the North East of England) focuses on farmers' markets in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Using data from interviews and observations we present and discuss findings about the local small markets and how the producers, traders or even consumers involved with them are linking their market activity to greater sustainability efforts. The major finding is that at least the food part of the small markets in East Yorkshire is very locally embedded. The nomadic character of the market traders and producers means that locally produced goods reach small places without the customers needing to concentrate in a nearby big trade centre, like a city market or a big supermarket. At the same time, the traders and producers try to avoid wasting produce as much as possible by adopting various practices, including sharing, non-monetary distribution and donations. The paper contributes to the discussions related to SDGs 2 (zero hunger), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 13 (climate action).
Published in the Journal of Risk and Financial Management, vol. 14.
This paper examines the pers... more Published in the Journal of Risk and Financial Management, vol. 14.
This paper examines the persistent food shortages in the island of Crete under Venetian rule (1204–1669) through the prism of the monetary system of Venetian territories and in combination with the other economic policies of the Venetian empire. From the available sources and analysis, it seems that the policies of Venice which prioritised the food security of the metropolis, the financial support to the elites, and the elite-favouring monetary and taxation system were contradictory and self-defeating. In particular, the monetary structure of the colonial economy and the taxation system seem to have been forcing both Cretans and Venetian settlers to produce wine for export instead of grain despite the repeated food shortages. The parallel circulation of various high-value (white money) and low-value (black money) currencies in the same economy and the insistence of the Venetian administration to receive taxes in white money seems to have been consistently undermining the food security policy adopted by the same authorities. The paper contributes to the discussion of how parallel currencies can stabilise an economy or can create structural destabilisation propensities, depending on coeval economic structures that usually go unexamined when we examine monetary instruments.
Keywords: parallel currencies; black money; white money; Venice; Crete; food security
Economia Solidaria y Social y Genero: Aportes Transdisciplinarios de Europa y America Latina (Social and Solidarity Economy and gender: Transdisciplinary contributions from Europe and Latin America), 2020
During the last years, particularly since 2009 onwards, schemes which enable their members to per... more During the last years, particularly since 2009 onwards, schemes which enable their members to perform transactions without the use of official currency, are emerging and developing all over Greece. At almost the same time, collective grassroots arrangements for the provision of health and education services, like social medical centres and social educational centres, and for the provision of food, like collective land cultivation and the organisation of social kitchens, aspire to cover certain community needs which are not met anymore by the deteriorating individual income of citizens and by the public sector, which is under severe expenditure cuts.
Women are well involved in all those schemes, in both their coordination and management, but also in the production and sharing practices which are necessary in order that the schemes work. Not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of decision-making, women have very important roles within the schemes and their contributions are clearly (considered as) needed, respected and praised.
However, the main question concerning women’s involvement in schemes where people do not use the official currency and/or try to undertake economic activities within a framework of solidarity instead of competition is: How do women handle the tension between the obligatory nature of their choices, given the high unemployment and poverty rates and the public expenditure cuts in terms of social services, and the will to explore new ways of arranging the satisfaction of individual and community material needs beyond the mainstream, capitalist and patriarchal market?
The paper’s scope is to examine some main issues concerning this tension and how this is expressed through practical problems which the scheme members need to resolve in order to develop their activities and cover the needs aimed at. How do the scheme members, particularly women, find materials which are only produced in the mainstream market like medicines, books or certain food materials, which are needed within the schemes? How time management is important within the scheme and how do women cope with multiple tasks, their own personal, family and community needs and the needs of the scheme? How do scheme politics are affecting the role(s) of women within and outside the scheme, how tensions and disputes are resolved, how resources are allocated and re-shared so that the increasing individual, household and community needs are satisfied?
The paper includes field data acquired through empirical research, by the methods of observation by participation, text analysis, and the conduct of interviews with research participants.
Keywords: Greece, women, solidarity structures, transactions without official currency, community needs.
The paper sets the conceptual and practical framework for the use of quantitative methods in rese... more The paper sets the conceptual and practical framework for the use of quantitative methods in research in Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). The quantitative methods we have in economics at the moment are not appropriate for understanding SSE in terms of quantity and this creates limitations for understanding the activity but mostly for knowledge exchanges between researchers and practitioners. The quest for appropriate quantitative methods has been an emergent trend in several fields of activism, policy making and research, like gender equality, indigenous environmental knowledge but mostly sustainability, both environmental and social. Within this general framework, the papers focuses on SSE activities that do not use official currency, like: parallel currencies, exchange networks, free bazaars and online networks, and various solidarity initiatives, like social kitchens, social clinics or collective cultivations. The people involved in the SSE choose to explore quantities that go unnoticed in mainstream quantitative methods. Their discourse and practice is full of quantitative understandings, which are basic for the entire activity to take place and be successful in its terms, but they elude completely the quantitative understandings and methods we have at the moment in economics or other social sciences. The paper draws examples from international literature but mostly from the author’s research on this type of economic activity in Greece. The author has experimented through her research with the concept of quantity, the alternative ways of collecting quantitative data and constructing questionnaire/survey questions and the possibilities of using other approaches of quantity in economic research.
The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, 2019
Το κεφάλαιο αναλύει ένα λαϊκό παραμύθι από την Κρήτη, που αναφέρεται στην χρήση της τεχνολογίας κ... more Το κεφάλαιο αναλύει ένα λαϊκό παραμύθι από την Κρήτη, που αναφέρεται στην χρήση της τεχνολογίας και στις επιπτώσεις της χρήσης αυτής όταν είναι υπό τον έλεγχο διάφορων κοινωνικών τάξεων. Το κεφάλαιο βρίσκεται στον συλλογικό τόμο των W.G.Mullins & P.Batra-Wells (eds) (2019) The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, Utah State University Press-University Press of Colorado, pp. 214-233.
The chapter analyses a folk tale from Crete island, referring to the use of technology and the impact of that use when technology is under the control of different social classes. Chapter 10 in W.G.Mullins & P.Batra-Wells (eds) (2019) The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, Utah State University Press-University Press of Colorado, pp. 214-233.
D.Wheatley (ed): Handbook of Research Methods on the Quality of Working Lives, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019
Abstract:
The chapter explores violence, both systemic and incidental, that a social researcher ... more Abstract:
The chapter explores violence, both systemic and incidental, that a social researcher may encounter during field research. The questions and anonymised cases used in this chapter stem from field research concerning public spaces of work related to, or organized by, social movements and grassroots initiatives. This work is usually defined as “unpaid” or “volunteering”, but also encapsulates work performed within arrangements of collective production beyond the paid–unpaid binary. Feminist and decolonial approaches are used to analyse ethical questions related to the stance a researcher may employ in social contexts where structural violence already exists (a patriarchal–racist–capitalist society) and where new incidents of physical or psychological violence may emerge and come to the researcher’s attention. The chapter employs the stance that when violence exists in or against a community this is a research finding that affects the integrity of the researcher, of the research, and the well-being of focus communities.
Keywords: violence, field research, unpaid labour, grassroots movements, research ethics
In: Kate Power, Tanweer Ali & Eva Lebduskova, editors (2019): Discourse analysis and austerity: C... more In: Kate Power, Tanweer Ali & Eva Lebduskova, editors (2019): Discourse analysis and austerity: Critical studies from economics and linguistics, Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 80-107.
Στο: Kate Power, Tanweer Ali & Eva Lebduskova, editors (2019): Discourse analysis and austerity: Critical studies from economics and linguistics, Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group, σελ. 80-107.
[Περίληψη στα ελληνικά μετά το αγγλικό κείμενο]
Our research focuses on both the discourse concerning the role of a State/government in austerity context and on what the practice of austerity policies imply for the role of the State in the economy. We use two countries, Argentina and Greece, as case studies in order to investigate, first in which ways the discourse about the role of the State supported austerity policies and created a conceptual framework for further promotion of neoliberal reforms; and second, whether and to what extent the “less State” argument was a cover for changing or even expanding the role of the central government to directly benefit capitalist agents and redistribute social wealth in favour of the few.
By putting the debate on the role of the State at the center of our analysis, we found out that the State has a central role in austerity policies and without its firm, even violent, intervention, those policies would not be possible to be implemented. In contrast to the discourse, the State is not “reduced” but enhanced or expanded to a different direction.
We used historical and contemporary information in order to examine how the “less State” argument has been used in both Argentina and Greece during the last decades. Our analysis takes into account the different historical and social contexts of the two countries, for example, the blood-thirsty anti-communist “preventive counterrevolution” in Argentina, or Greece’s participation in the Eurozone. However, differences are intertwined with several major commonalities in neoliberal policies in both countries, like the destruction of hundreds of thousands of job positions, the impoverishment of the majority of the population, the breakdown of public services and previously established social rights, the privatisation of the commons and several public goods and services and the acute repression of emerging resistances.
“Λιγότερο Κράτος” στη λιτότητα: Μια έννοια που κρύβει τον κεντρικό φορέα των νεοφιλελεύθερων πολιτικών
Η έρευνά μας επικεντρώνεται τόσο στον λόγο αναφορικά με το ρόλο του Κράτους/κυβέρνησης σε ένα πλαίσιο λιτότητας όσο και στο τί συνεπάγονται οι πολιτικές λιτότητας για τον ρόλο του Κράτους στην οικονομία. Χρησιμοποιούμε δύο χώρες, την Αργεντινή και την Ελλάδα, ως περιπτωσιολογικές μελέτες ώστε να διερευνήσουμε, πρώτον με ποιούς τρόπους ο λόγος για τον ρόλο του Κράτους στήριξε τις πολιτικές λιτότητας και δημιούργησε ένα εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο για περαιτέρω προώθηση νεοφιλελεύθερων μεταρρυθμίσεων. Και δεύτερον, για να διερευνήσουμε εάν και σε ποιά έκταση το επιχείρημα για «λιγότερο Κράτος» ήταν μια επικάλυψη για να μεταβληθεί ή ακόμη και να επεκταθεί ο ρόλος της κεντρικής κυβέρνησης ώστε να ωφελήσει ευθέως καπιταλιστικούς φορείς και να αναδιανείμει τον κοινωνικό πλούτο εις όφελος των λίγων.
Θέτοντας τον διαξιφισμό για τον ρόλο του Κράτος στο κέντρο της ανάλυσής μας, βρήκαμε ότι το Κράτος έχει κεντρικό ρόλο στις πολιτικές λιτότητας και χωρίς την σταθερή, ακόμη και βίαιη, παρέμβασή του αυτές οι πολιτικές δεν θα μπορούσαν να εφαρμοστούν. Αντίθετα προς τον (δημόσιο) λόγο, το Κράτος δεν «μειώνεται» αλλά ενισχύεται ή επεκτείνεται σε διαφορετική κατεύθυνση.
Χρησιμοποιήσαμε ιστορικές και σύγχρονες πληροφορίες ώστε να εξετάσουμε πώς το επιχείρημα για "λιγότερο Κράτος» χρησιμοποιήθηκε στην Αργεντινή και στην Ελλάδα τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες. Η ανάλυσή μας λαμβάνει υπ’ όψη τα διαφορετικά ιστορικά και κοινωνικά πλαίσια των δύο χωρών, για παράδειγμα, την αιμοσταγή αντικομμουνιστική «προληπτική αντεπανάσταση» στην Αργεντινή, ή την συμμετοχή της Ελλάδας στην Ευρωζώνη. Εντούτοις, οι διαφορές συμπλέκονται με πολλά μείζονα κοινά σημεία στις νεοφιλελεύθερες πολιτικές και στις δυο χώρες, όπως η καταστροφή εκατοντάδων χιλιάδων θέσεων εργασίας, η εκφτώχυνση της πλειοψηφίας του πληθυσμού, η κατάρρευση των δημοσίων υπηρεσιών και των προηγουμένως καθιερωμένων κοινωνικών δικαιωμάτων, η ιδιωτικοποίηση των κοινών και διαφόρων δημοσίων αγαθών και η οξεία καταστολή των αναδυόμενων αντιστάσεων.
Λέξεις-Κλειδιά: Κράτος, λιτότητα, κοινωνικό κράτος, ιδιωτικοποιήσεις, απορρύθμιση, Αργεντινή, Ελλάδα.
Μελέτη (Δεκέμβριος 2018), πρώτη εκδοχή της οποίας παρουσιάστηκε στο 4ο Συμπόσιο Ελληνικής Γαστρον... more Μελέτη (Δεκέμβριος 2018), πρώτη εκδοχή της οποίας παρουσιάστηκε στο 4ο Συμπόσιο Ελληνικής Γαστρονομίας «Δημητριακά: Γνωστά, Ξεχασμένα και Χαμένα» Καράνου Χανίων, 29-30 Ιουλίου 2017
Paper finalised in 2018. The first version was presented at the 4th Greek Gastronomy Symposium
“K... more Paper finalised in 2018. The first version was presented at the 4th Greek Gastronomy Symposium “Known, Forgotten and Lost Grains” Karanou of Chania, July 29-30th 2017
This article discusses solidarity economy initiatives as instances of grassroots organizing, and ... more This article discusses solidarity economy initiatives as instances of grassroots organizing, and explores how ‘values practices’ are performed collectively during times of crisis. In focusing on how power, discourse and subjectivities are negotiated in the everyday practices of grassroots exchange networks (GENs) in crisis-stricken Greece, the study unveils and discusses three performances of values practices, namely mobilization of values, re-articulation of social relations, and sustainable living. Based on these findings, and informed by theoretical analyses of performativity, we propose a framework for studying the production and reproduction of values in the context of GENs, and the role of values in organizing alternatives.
The paper stems from a greater project on economic history concerning the monetary system and pol... more The paper stems from a greater project on economic history concerning the monetary system and policies of medieval and renaissance Venice, with a special focus on Venice’s colony of Crete. The Venetian monetary system included various currencies, both minted and virtual, and it was intertwined with the currencies that already existed or appeared in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Venetian imperial era. I examine actual historical examples through the lenses of both mainstream and heterodox monetary theories in order to show the complexity of monetary practices under real conditions and how the available monetary theories need further sophistication in order to explain and systemize our understanding of monetary phenomena.
To make the research inquiry clearer, I focus on two examples that seem to run counter to what current assumptions about monetary structures: One case is that of the Byzantine yperpyron, a golden coin of the Eastern Roman Empire which seems to survive in Crete island, both the Venetian rule (starting in early 13th century) and the end of the Byzantine Empire itself (in 1453) and remained in circulation, mostly as a virtual currency or accounting unit, until 17th century, together with various other currencies circulating in the island.
The other case is the Venetian ducat itself, a golden coin minted by Venice from late 13th century onwards and well known for its quality of gold and value in international trade in both Mediterranean and Europe. Yet, it seems that the Venetians preferred to use other international currencies in domestic trade. There has been evidence that in some cases the never-debased golden ducat was not accepted in local transactions.
The paper attempts to set the grounds for further investigation and discussion concerning monetary phenomena and the issues those raise for monetary theory.
Abstract This article discusses solidarity economy initiatives as instances of grassroots organizing, and explores how ‘values practices’ are performed collectively during times of crisis. In focusing on how power, discourse and subjectivities are negotiated in the everyday practices of grassroots exchange networks (GENs) in crisis-stricken Greece, the study unveils and discusses three performances of values practices, namely mobilization of values, re-articulation of social relations, and sustainable living. Based on these findings, and informed by theoretical analyses of performativity, we propose a framework for studying the production and reproduction of values in the context of GENs, and the role of values in organizing alternatives.
Published in Valeontis, C. (ed.) (2017): Hellenic language and terminology – Communications of t... more Published in Valeontis, C. (ed.) (2017): Hellenic language and terminology – Communications of the 11th Conference, Hellenic Society for Terminology (ELETO), Athens – Greece: 222-232.
ABSTRACT
The paper belongs to a greater research programme related to economic knowledge that exists outside academia and is created and shared by communities through informal routes. One of the sources of this economic knowledge is language itself, especially non-academic language(s). The use of language as a source is also based on the fact that the lingua franca of economics is English and this leads to distortions in our economic education and research, because the economic knowledge that other languages contain goes unnoticed. Therefore, we use our own native languages to (re)search economic knowledge that exists outside academia and can inform economics about contemporary practices but also about historical precedents of political economic importance. In particular, this paper analyses the use of the word " Moira " (" Fate " and " Share " in Greek) and Miri (Land owned by the Ottoman state leased to subjects for cultivation) and raises questions about the similarities and differences in the practices they represent. What is most important though, is that the words refer to perceptions about land ownerships and management that defy our contemporary understandings of land property. Moreover, the paper investigates the use of the words in everyday language, in previous historical eras or even today under certain circumstances, and how both words and the terms related to them connect land practices to various political economic activities and phenomena.
ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ
H μελέτη ανήκει σε ένα μεγαλύτερο ερευνητικό πρόγραμμα που σχετίζεται με την οικονομική γνώση που υπάρχει εκτός ακαδημαϊκής κοινότητας και δημιουργείται και χρησιμοποιείται απο κοινού από τις διάφορες κοινότητες μέσω ανεπίσημων οδών. Μια από τις πηγές αυτής της οικονομικής γνώσης είναι η ίδια η γλώσσα, ιδιαίτερα η μη ακαδημαϊκή γλώσσα, η οποία περιέχει οικονομικές γνώσεις που αποκλείονται από την οικονομική ορολογία και πολύ περισσότερο από την οικονομική lingua franca, η οποία είναι η αγγλική.
Στην ανάλυσή μας, καταλαβαίνουμε τον καπιταλισμό ως μια μορφή πατριαρχίας και την πατριαρχία ως κοινωνικό και οικονομικό σύστημα. Στις καπιταλιστικές κοινωνίες επικρατεί ο θεσμός της ατομικής ιδιοκτησίας με όλες τις επιπτώσεις της: αποκλεισμός από την πρόσβαση και τον έλεγχο της χρήσης γης, ιεράρχηση των χρήσεων γης ώστε να αποφέρουν το μεγαλύτερο κέρδος, στερήσεις και διάλυση ολόκληρων κοινοτήτων και υποβάθμιση του εδάφους και των οικοσυστημάτων. Η ατομική ιδιοκτησία αποτελεί βασικό χαρακτηριστικό της πατριαρχίας ενώ άλλα κοινωνικοοικονομικά συστήματα δεν διαθέτουν αυτό το θεσμό. Αντίθετα, η γη είναι, εξ ορισμού, όχι μόνο κοινή, αλλά και η πρόσβαση σε αυτήν προσαρμόζεται στις ανάγκες της κοινωνίας/των μελών της κοινότητας.
H μελέτη αναλύει τη χρήση των λέξεων "Μοίρα" και "Mιρί" (η γη που ανήκει στο οθωμανικό κράτος και εκμισθώνεται για καλλιέργεια) και εγείρει ερωτήματα σχετικά με τις ομοιότητες και τις διαφορές στις πρακτικές που εκπροσωπούν . Παρατηρήσαμε ότι πέρα από την ομοιότητα του ήχου μεταξύ αυτών των δύο λέξεων, συνδέονται επίσης με τις αντιλήψεις και τις πρακτικές σχετικά με την ιδιοκτησία και τη διαχείριση της γης που αψηφούν τις σύγχρονες αντιλήψεις μας για την έγγεια ιδιοκτησία.
Μοίρα και Μοίρες είναι μια λέξη που χρησιμοποιείται στην ελληνική γλώσσα από την αρχαιότητα μέχρι σήμερα και έχει δύο βασικές έννοιες: η θεά του πεπρωμένου, Μοίρα, ή Μοίρες στον πληθυντικό, οι Θεές της μοίρας. Η άλλη έννοια είναι το «μερίδιο», το μέρος ενός κοινού πράγματος που αποδίδεται σε κάποιον. Ακόμη και στον σύγχρονο ελληνικό νόμο, μοίρα είναι το μερίδιο κληρονομιάς ενός ατόμου του οποίου ο συγγενής ή ο σύζυγός του έχει πεθάνει. Επιπλέον, οι αποφάσεις της Μοίρας ή των Μοιρών είναι αναπόφευκτες, αν και στον λαϊκό πολιτισμό βρίσκουμε Μοίρες που αλλάζουν γνώμη ή λυπούνται τους ανθρώπους στους οποίους αρχικά προκάλεσαν δύσκολες καταστάσεις.
Για να κατανοήσουμε την κοινωνικοοικονομική έννοια των Μοιρών, χρησιμοποιήσαμε το έργο του G.D.Thomson, όπου εξηγεί ότι οι Μοίρες είναι η μνήμη των προπατριάρχικών κοινωνιών που δεν είχαν ατομική ιδιοκτησία. Σε αυτές τις κοινωνίες, η γη ή ο πλούτος της κοινότητας αναδιανεμόταν τακτικά μεταξύ των μελών της. Επιπλέον, η επιμονή στο πρόσωπο της Μοίρας/ Μοιρών, είναι επίσης μια προσδοκία για τιμωρία από τις Μοίρες / συλλογικά καθεστώτα, για την απώλεια της (συλλογικής) ισχύος και για τις ανισορροπίες που η πατριαρχία έφερε μεταξύ των μελών της κοινωνίας.
Από την άλλη πλευρά, στην Οθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, ένα μεγάλο μέρος των εδαφών ήταν δημόσια ιδιοκτησία. Αυτά τα δημόσια εδάφη ονομάστηκαν "μιρί/miri" και διανεμήθηκαν με ένα σύστημα που συνδέει τους αξιωματικούς του ιππικού με τους αγρότες, προκειμένου να παράσχουν αγροτικά προϊόντα για το στρατό και για τα αστικά κέντρα, κυρίως την Κωνσταντινούπολη ως πρωτεύουσα της αυτοκρατορίας. Οι αγρότες είχαν δικαιώματα χρήσης στη γη, τα οποία δεν ήταν δικαιώματα ατομικής ιδιοκτησίας. Τα δικαιώματα ήταν τίτλοι επικαρπίας και ήταν αποκλειστικά για την οικογένεια του χωρικού που μπορούσε να κληροδοτήσει τη γη στα παιδιά του για τα ίδια δικαιώματα χρήσης και επικαρπίας και όχι για περισσότερο από αυτά. Το ίδιο συνέβαινε και με τα δικαιώματα γης των αξιωματικών του ιππικού.
Παρά τη στρατιωτικοποίηση αυτή, διαπιστώνουμε ότι το σύστημα των μικρών γαιοκτησιών του μιρί κατέστησε αρκετά δύσκολο για τον καπιταλισμό να επεκταθεί στην οθωμανική αυτοκρατορία και υποστήριξε τους μικρούς παραγωγούς λόγω της τάσης αποκέντρωσης που δημιουργεί στον έλεγχο της γης. Μόλις τον 19ο αιώνα με το Tanzimat / Μεταρρύθμιση, η νομοθεσία για την ιδιωτική ιδιοκτησία επεκτάθηκε επίσημα στα δικαιώματα χρήσης που ορισμένες οικογένειες είχαν γενιά από γενιά
Άλλες παρόμοιες λέξεις που σχετίζονται με τη δημόσια γη ή με κοινά συστήματα διαχείρισης βρίσκονται στις σλαβικές γλώσσες και στην αραβική γλώσσα. Είδαμε σε διάφορες περιπτώσεις ότι στη Μεσόγειο και στην Ανατολική Ευρώπη / Βαλκάνια το θέμα της εξουσίας και της κατανομής / διανομής, της εξουσίας ως διανομής, διανομής ως εξουσίας, αναδύεται μέσα από λέξεις που έχουν αλληλένδετες ή και παρόμοιες έννοιες. Αυτές οι λέξεις μπορούν να αντιπροσωπεύουν από μεταφυσικά όντα μέχρι νομικές έννοιες και εκτάσεις γης, και από πολιτικούς θεσμούς μέχρι πρακτικές κοινής χρήσης γαιών. Με αυτή την έννοια, οι διάφορες αντιλήψεις για τη γη, ως κάτι που χρησιμοποείται και ελέγχεται συλλογικά, φαίνεται ότι είναι ζωντανές μέσα από τις λέξεις που εξακολουθούμε να χρησιμοποιούμε ακόμη και σήμερα.
Paper presented in 2016 and published (2018) in the Proceedings of the 12th International Congres... more Paper presented in 2016 and published (2018) in the Proceedings of the 12th International Congress of Cretan Studies (Heraklion, 21-25.9.2016).
Κεφάλαιο δημοσιευμένο στο συλλογικό τόμο επιμέλειας Κ.Γεώρμα (2013): Κοινωνική Οικονομία – Θεωρία... more Κεφάλαιο δημοσιευμένο στο συλλογικό τόμο επιμέλειας Κ.Γεώρμα (2013): Κοινωνική Οικονομία – Θεωρία, εμπειρία και προοπτικές, Εναλλακτικές Εκδόσεις, Αθήνα, σελ. 101-116. Chapter published in the collective volume edited by K.Geormas (2013): Social Economy - Theory, experience and perspectives, Alternative Publishing, Athens, pp. 101-116.
ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ Η παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζει τα παράλληλα νομίσματα, τα δίκτυα ανταλλαγής και διάφορες σχετικές πρωτοβουλίες που θα μπορούσαν να χαρακτηρισθούν ως εναλλακτικές συναλλαγές ή μη-κυρίαρχοι τρόποι οικονομικής δραστηριότητας, τα οποία λειτουργούν στην Ελλάδα το 2011. Τα σχήματα αυτά έχουν διαφορετικές δομές και στόχους και η δραστηριότητα των μελών τους αναδεικνύει μία σειρά από ερευνητικά ζητήματα, ιδιαίτερα αναφορικά με τις παραδοχές των κυρίαρχων οικονομικών θεωριών
Table of Contents
Part I: the non-mainstream modes of transaction and production and the quantity question
1. Introduction: the non-mainstream modes of transaction & production, or when what works in practice struggles to work in theory
2. Theoretical background: Capitalist patriarchy, quantification, historical materialism in the field and the “alternatives” to capitalism
3. Theory again: Is measuring a form of violence?
4. Approaches, research methodologies and the quantitative methods problem
Part II: The practices of quantifying otherwise
5. Quantities and measures in the non-mainstream field
6. The question of time
7. The question of value
8. ICTs in the non-mainstream field
9. Machines otherwise?
Part III: Machines, measures and (social) reproduction
10. Machines, measures, and the neoliberal version of capitalist patriarchy
11. Machines and measures in service of (social) reproduction
12. Capitalist patriarchal reprise: measures and machines as contested means of (re)production
13. Conclusion: “The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House” and the options we have
Bibliography
Πίνακας Περιεχομένων
Μέρος I: Οι μη κυρίαρχοι τρόποι συναλλαγής και παραγωγής και το ζήτημα της ποσότητας
1. Εισαγωγή: Οι μη κυρίαρχοι τρόποι συναλλαγής και παραγωγής, ή όταν αυτό που λειτουργεί στην πράξη δυσκολεύεται να λειτουργήσει στη θεωρία
2. Θεωρητικό υπόβαθρο: Καπιταλιστική πατριαρχία, ποσοτικοποίηση, ιστορικός υλισμός στο πεδίο και οι «εναλλακτικές» στον καπιταλισμό
3. Θεωρία ξανά: Είναι η μέτρηση μια μορφή βίας;
4. Προσεγγίσεις, μεθοδολογίες έρευνας και το πρόβλημα των ποσοτικών μεθόδων
Μέρος II: Οι πρακτικές ποσοτικοποίησης αλλιώς
5. Ποσότητες και μέτρα στο μη κυρίαρχο πεδίο
6. Το ζήτημα του χρόνου
7. Το ζήτημα της αξίας
8. Τεχνολογίες Πληροφορικής και Επικοινωνίας στο μη κυρίαρχο πεδίο
9. Μηχανές αλλιώς;
Μέρος III: Μηχανές, μέτρα και (κοινωνική) αναπαραγωγή
10. Μηχανές, μέτρα και η νεοφιλελεύθερη εκδοχή της καπιταλιστικής πατριαρχίας
11. Μηχανές και μέτρα στην υπηρεσία της (κοινωνικής) αναπαραγωγής
12. Καπιταλιστική πατριαρχική επαναφορά: μέτρα και μηχανές ως διεκδικούμενα μέσα (ανα)παραγωγής
13. Συμπέρασμα: «Τα εργαλεία του αφέντη δεν θα γκρεμίσουν ποτέ το σπίτι του αφέντη» και οι επιλογές που έχουμε
Βιβλιογραφία
This is the slide series of my conference presentation titled "Who is afraid of AI? Reflections f... more This is the slide series of my conference presentation titled "Who is afraid of AI? Reflections from the economic margin" presented on 22.09.2023 at the 8th International Conference on Applied Economics “Economics & the Social Sciences in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” organised by the University of Thessaly, Department of Economics (21-23.9.2023).
Αυτή είναι η σειρά διαφανειών της ανακοίνωσής μου με τίτλο "Ποιος φοβάται την τεχνητή νοημοσύνη; Σκέψεις από το οικονομικό περιθώριο" που παρουσιάστηκε στις 22.09.2023 στο 8ο Διεθνές Συνέδριο Εφαρμοσμένων Οικονομικών «Οικονομικά και Κοινωνικές Επιστήμες στην Εποχή της Τεχνητής Νοημοσύνης», το οποίο διοργάνωσε το Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλίας, Τμήμα Οικονομικών Επιστημών (21-23.9.2023).
This is the slide series I used to present my paper "Artificial Intelligence in the Edu-factory: ... more This is the slide series I used to present my paper "Artificial Intelligence in the Edu-factory: A revenge of the invisible working classes in Higher Education" at the 2023 SOLSTICE-CLT conference that took place at the Edge Hill University on 14-15 June 2023.
This is the paper presented at the online conference “Economics – The Tragic Science? held online... more This is the paper presented at the online conference “Economics – The Tragic Science? held online on 30.03.2023, organised by the LSBU Business School.
The paper explores the contributions to economic methodology in the book “Economics - The tragic science” by G.F.DeMartino (2022) and how the search for better ethics in the discipline of economics is directly linked to better methods that fit the subject-matter of the field. That economics can create extensive harm while pretending it is science and even more hard science, is known. Hard science as a term, with its connotations that refer to an approach to knowledge that is quite linked to modernity, patriarchy and (colonial) capitalism, tried to distinguish itself from other disciplines based on an assumption of certainty that some types of knowledge can have and some other types of knowledge cannot even dream of. However, as capitalist structures seem to reach their environmental and social limits, the assumption of scientific certainty is not as it used to be two hundred years ago. Economics seems to be too slow to follow the trend of “hard sciences” in terms of understanding complexity, uncertainty, resilience and open-system analysis, much less to accept that there are parts of economic activity that we might never know or that we will get to know after it is too late for both the economy and the people living in it. The ”Tragic science” book raises a very legitimate critique of currently prevailing methods in economics, as those being unethical because they cause immeasurable and irreparable harm to the societies the economic advice is given through those methods. However, any method that leads to so much harm is flawed and should not be used. It is not scientific to use methods that cause so much harm just like it would not be scientific to build a house without a proper engineering study and structure. The question that the book raises but leaves unanswered is whether we just have to manage the harm the current prevailing methods cause, or whether we have to search for better methods. The last chapters give a hint, by presenting the case of the California river and how the economists could contribute positively to policy-making by working with methods that prioritise the prevention of harm. The despise of economics to methodologies of other social sciences that are less interventionist and less distanced from reality had a drawback that today seems evident, but some decades ago, it was not: it led to most economists not even understanding where the data they use is coming from; to adapting the data and the decision on what type of data they will use, to the model they have and not vice versa; to take modelling and statistical analysis of state-created data as the best way to understand the economy; and of course to turn to research fields that have certain types of data that are convenient for economics and its modelling urge, rather than to fields that are part of core sectors of the economy but are more messy and unstable as knowledge sources than a clean statistical set ready to find from a state or corporate organisation. Stated otherwise, the despise to methodological self-reflection led to ignorance or worse, to harmful economics. The paper explains how centering the prevention of harm in economics requires completely different methodologies and not only different ethics; how the understandings of the economic activity and even more the policy making through economic expertise demands variety of methods, that would include both quantitative and qualitative methodological tools; and how the quantitative part of economic methodology needs to be re-built from scratch to include quantitative approaches that are appropriate for a planet in climate crisis and for societies struggling to escape inequality and poverty. In other words, we do not only have unethical methodologies, we also have bad methodologies that cause harm. That unethical and bad science goes hand in hand is something that other disciplines know for some time now and by the occasion of DeMartino’s book, it is time that economics catches up with its peers.
Paper presented at the conference “The Revolution of Daskaloyannis and the 1821 Revolution in Cre... more Paper presented at the conference “The Revolution of Daskaloyannis and the 1821 Revolution in Crete” (18-20.3.2022), organised by ILAEK, Sfakia Municipality and District of Crete. Full text will be released soon.
Το νομισματοκοπείο του Δασκαλογιάννη και η νομισματική κατάσταση στην Κρήτη του 1770.
Μελέτη που παρουσιάστηκε την 18.3.2022 στο Συνέδριο "Η Επανάσταση του Δασκαλογιάννη και η Επανάσταση του 1821 στην Κρήτη" (18-20.3.2022), που συνδιοργανώθηκε από την ΙΛΑΕΚ, το Δήμο Σφακίων και την Περιφέρεια Κρήτης. Το πλήρες κείμενο της μελέτης θα δημοσιοποιηθεί σε λίγο καιρό.
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The workshop was held within the framework of the project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project.
This is the handout distributed to the attendees of the Knowledge Exchange Celebration Week at th... more This is the handout distributed to the attendees of the Knowledge Exchange Celebration Week at the University of Hull, at the Session about "Accelerating a Net Zero Future" that took place on November 18th 2020.
These are the slides for the presentation at the Solidarity in Action Network Forum of May 13th 2... more These are the slides for the presentation at the Solidarity in Action Network Forum of May 13th 2021.
Mülkiye İktisadi ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Merkezinde bir sunum, 25.2.2020.
Presentation at the Eco... more Mülkiye İktisadi ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Merkezinde bir sunum, 25.2.2020.
Presentation at the Economic and Social Research Centre of the Ankara Faculty of Political Sciences Alumni, 25.2.2020.
Halk Ekonomisi Çalıştayının (24-25 Şubat 2020, Ankara Üniversitesinde olduğu) Giriş Sunumu. Çalış... more Halk Ekonomisi Çalıştayının (24-25 Şubat 2020, Ankara Üniversitesinde olduğu) Giriş Sunumu. Çalıştayı Britanyalı Akademi'nin destegiyle yapıldı. Çalıştayının kolaylaştırıcıları Dr. Ferda Dönmez-Atbaşı (Ankara Üniversitesi) ve Dr. Irene Sotiropoulou'du (Hull Üniversitesi).
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Halk Ekonomisi Çalıştayı'nın posteri
Η αφίσα του Εργαστηρίου Λαϊκών Οικονομικών
The poster of Pe... more Halk Ekonomisi Çalıştayı'nın posteri Η αφίσα του Εργαστηρίου Λαϊκών Οικονομικών The poster of People's Economics Workshop
Paper presented at "En-gendering Macroeconomics & International Economics Summer Seminar", (16-18... more Paper presented at "En-gendering Macroeconomics & International Economics Summer Seminar", (16-18.7.2013) Krakow, Poland
Μελέτη που παρουσιάστηκε στο Διεθνές Συνέδριο
"Επικοινωνία με διαφορετικές κουλτούρες: Προκλήσεις... more Μελέτη που παρουσιάστηκε στο Διεθνές Συνέδριο "Επικοινωνία με διαφορετικές κουλτούρες: Προκλήσεις & προοπτικές στο παγκόσμιο περιβάλλον" Χανιά, 29.9.2018
Paper presented at the International Conference
"Communication across cultures: Challenges & pro... more Paper presented at the International Conference
"Communication across cultures: Challenges & prospects in the global context"
Chania, 29.9.2018
Αυτές είναι οι διαφάνειες από την παρουσίαση της μελέτης στο Εργαστήριο "Ιστορίες λιμού και μύθοι... more Αυτές είναι οι διαφάνειες από την παρουσίαση της μελέτης στο Εργαστήριο "Ιστορίες λιμού και μύθοι επιβίωσης: Κληρονομιά για τις επόμενες γενιές", που διεξήχθη στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Ουψάλα την 28-30.9.2017.
This is the slide series for the paper presented at the Workshop "Famine Stories and Survival Leg... more This is the slide series for the paper presented at the Workshop "Famine Stories and Survival Legends: Legacies to the Following Generations", held at the University of Uppsala on 28-30.9.2017.
Σειρά διαφανειών από μελέτη (σε εξέλιξη) που παρουσιάστηκε στο 4ο Συμπόσιο Ελληνικής Γαστρονομίας... more Σειρά διαφανειών από μελέτη (σε εξέλιξη) που παρουσιάστηκε στο 4ο Συμπόσιο Ελληνικής Γαστρονομίας, που έλαβε χώρα στα Καράνου Χανίων την 29-30 Ιουλίου 2017.
This is the slide series for a paper (work in progress) presented at the 4th Symposium of Greek G... more This is the slide series for a paper (work in progress) presented at the 4th Symposium of Greek Gastronomy, held in Karanou (Chania, Greece) on July 29-30, 2017.
This is the slide series for the paper presented at the 19th Conference of the Association for He... more This is the slide series for the paper presented at the 19th Conference of the Association for Heterodox Economics "Sustainable Economy & Economics", held at Manchester (10-12.7.2017).
Εκτεταμένη περίληψη στα ελληνικά της διδακτορικής διατριβής που υποστηρίχθηκε το Δεκέμβριο 2012. ... more Εκτεταμένη περίληψη στα ελληνικά της διδακτορικής διατριβής που υποστηρίχθηκε το Δεκέμβριο 2012. Οι παραπομπές σε βιβλιογραφία αναφέρονται στον κατάλογο βιβλιογραφίας στον τόμο της διατριβής.
Slides and reading list for an 1-hour lecture (November 2020), in the course of Green Economy (60... more Slides and reading list for an 1-hour lecture (November 2020), in the course of Green Economy (600253_A20_T1), of 3rd year Undergraduate curriculum of the Geography BA at the University of Hull.
Διαφάνειες για το σεμινάριο 23.2.2018 στα πλαίσια της Σειράς Σεμιναρίων της Ομάδας Φύλου & Δημοκρ... more Διαφάνειες για το σεμινάριο 23.2.2018 στα πλαίσια της Σειράς Σεμιναρίων της Ομάδας Φύλου & Δημοκρατίας του Τμήματος Πολιτικής Επιστήμης του ΕΚΠΑ. Στην κατηγορία του διδακτικού υλικού υπάρχει το συνοδευτικό κείμενο και βιβλιογραφία.
Συνοδευτικό κείμενο και βιβλιογραφία για το σεμινάριο της 23.2.2018 στα πλαίσια της Σειράς Σεμινα... more Συνοδευτικό κείμενο και βιβλιογραφία για το σεμινάριο της 23.2.2018 στα πλαίσια της Σειράς Σεμιναρίων της Ομάδας Φύλου & Δημοκρατίας του Τμήματος Πολιτικής Επιστήμης του ΕΚΠΑ.
Περίληψη Το σεμινάριο χρησιμοποιεί φεμινιστικές θεωρίες για να καταδείξει πώς η αντίληψη για το καπιταλιστικό σύστημα που η κυρίαρχη οικονομική θεωρία προωθεί, διαγράφει την βαθειά δομή του καπιταλισμού που είναι η πατριαρχία. Η πατριαρχία είναι οικονομικό και όχι μόνο κοινωνικό σύστημα και οι οικονομικοί της θεσμοί, όπως η ατομική ιδιοκτησία (σε γη και ανθρώπινα σώματα), το κράτος, η θεσμοποιημένη βία ή και το χρήμα στη μορφή που το ξέρουμε σήμερα αποτελούν εξίσου σημαντικούς θεσμούς με την πατρογραμμική-πατροκεντρική καταγωγή. Το σεμινάριο επιχειρεί να εξετάσει την πατριαρχία όχι ως κατάλοιπο του παρελθόντος ή ως ειδικότερο ζήτημα για το οποίο αρμόδιες είναι οι κοινωνικές υπηρεσίες, αλλά ως κεντρικό άξονα γύρω από τον οποίο δομείται η οικονομική δραστηριότητα. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο η βία και οι διακρίσεις που υφίστανται κοινωνικές ομάδες και άτομα, λόγω έμφυλης ή/και σεξουαλικής ταυτότητας αποτελούν αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι των οικονομικών ανισοτήτων αλλά και της περιβαλλοντικής καταστροφής, και όχι ζήτημα που αφορά «μειονότητες». Επομένως, η ετεροκανονική αντίληψη για την κοινωνία διατρέχει την δόμηση των κυρίαρχων παραγωγικών σχέσεων. Πολύ περισσότερο, η ίδια ετεροκανονική αντίληψη κατασκευάζει τη φύση ως θηλυκού γένους και αντάξια μεταχείρισης «όπως εάν ήταν γυναίκα», με τρομακτικές συνέπειες για το φυσικό περιβάλλον, τα ζώα και τα άλλα πλάσματα, αλλά και για τις ίδιες τις ανθρώπινες κοινωνίες. Οι οικονομικές θεωρίες, ακόμη και οι πιο προοδευτικές μέχρι στιγμής, βλέπουν στη φύση παραγωγικούς πόρους ή μέσα παραγωγής και όχι συστήματα συμβίωσης στα οποία παρεμβαίνουν οι ανθρώπινες κοινωνίες για τους δικούς τους σκοπούς. Το σεμινάριο βασίζεται σε συνεχιζόμενες ερευνητικές μελέτες σχετικά με την πατριαρχική φύση του καπιταλισμού αλλά κυρίως με το πώς η πατριαρχία καθ’ αυτή είναι οικονομικό σύστημα η ίδια, πώς συνυπάρχουν ή συγκρούονται καπιταλιστικά και μη καπιταλιστικά πατριαρχικά συστήματα, και εάν είναι δυνατόν να υπάρχουν μη πατριαρχικές οικονομικές πρακτικές και τί σημαίνει αυτό σήμερα. Τέλος, θα γίνει παρουσίαση ευρημάτων που αφορούν την νότια βαλκανική ή τον αιγαιακό χώρο, μια και πρόκειται για κοινωνίες που διαφέρουν πολύ από τις αντίστοιχες δυτικο-ευρωπαϊκές, και ακόμη και οι φεμινιστικές θεωρίες που έχουμε για τον καπιταλισμό δεν επαρκούν για την κατανόηση του οικονομικού συστήματος στις περιοχές αυτές.
This is the set of slides, the exercise and the reading list for the "Globalisation & Public Heal... more This is the set of slides, the exercise and the reading list for the "Globalisation & Public Health" session on February 8th 2017 at the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health of Coventry University.
This is the set of slides and the reading list used for the Doctoral Workshop held at CAWR on Jan... more This is the set of slides and the reading list used for the Doctoral Workshop held at CAWR on January 17th 2017.
This is the set of slides and the reading list for the Doctoral Training Workshop held on 12.12.2... more This is the set of slides and the reading list for the Doctoral Training Workshop held on 12.12.2016 at Coventry University.
This is the presentation and the reading list for the online Seminar "Discussing resilience in co... more This is the presentation and the reading list for the online Seminar "Discussing resilience in context" given on November 24th 2016.
Part III of the material used for the Joint Lecture of 7.11.2016 in Ecological Economics at Coven... more Part III of the material used for the Joint Lecture of 7.11.2016 in Ecological Economics at Coventry University
This is Part III of the slides used in the (joint) guest lecture of 31.10.2016 at Coventry Univer... more This is Part III of the slides used in the (joint) guest lecture of 31.10.2016 at Coventry University and part of a current research exploration.
This is Part II of the slides used in the (joint) guest lecture of 31.10.2016 at Coventry Univers... more This is Part II of the slides used in the (joint) guest lecture of 31.10.2016 at Coventry University.
This is Part I of the slides used in the (joint) guest lecture of 31.10.2016 at Coventry Universi... more This is Part I of the slides used in the (joint) guest lecture of 31.10.2016 at Coventry University.
This is the introductory slides series, handout and satellite presentations for the seminar held ... more This is the introductory slides series, handout and satellite presentations for the seminar held at CAWR (Coventry University) on September 15th 2016.
This is a short documentary presenting the small producers and small markets and their importance... more This is a short documentary presenting the small producers and small markets and their importance to the local economy and the bioeconomy. The video is available at the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri2llwix25s The documentary has been prepared within the framework of the project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted by Prof. Pauline Deutz and Dr Irene Sotiropoulou as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
These are the transcripts of the Small Markets Podcast Series that are available at this link and... more These are the transcripts of the Small Markets Podcast Series that are available at this link and at https://thyme.biovale.org/resources/ and at https://independent.academia.edu/IreneSotiropoulou/Videos The Small Markets Podcast Series have been prepared within the framework of the project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted by Prof. Pauline Deutz and Dr Irene Sotiropoulou as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is the story of my research in pictures only! It has been prepared as a pechakucha presentat... more This is the story of my research in pictures only! It has been prepared as a pechakucha presentation for the Research Communication Skills Course, run and taught by Dr Kieran Fenby-Hulse at Coventry University, Autumn-Winter 2016-7.
Σημειώσεις μελέτης και έρευνας που έγιναν άρθρο, επίκαιρες μεταβολές και προσθήκες στη μελέτη για... more Σημειώσεις μελέτης και έρευνας που έγιναν άρθρο, επίκαιρες μεταβολές και προσθήκες στη μελέτη για την αποτυχία της καπιταλιστικής πατριαρχίας στην Ελλάδα.
Translation from the original opinion article published in Greek, at the online magazine Απόψεις ... more Translation from the original opinion article published in Greek, at the online magazine Απόψεις /Views/Apopseis (2014), Special Issue: Actions of social self-organisation and internet, pp.41-46, http://apopseis.gr/images/organosi_teliko.pdf
Τα μέσα και η τεχνογνωσία για τις συναλλαγές ως τεχνολογίες επικοινωνίας αντιστρέφουν το ερώτημα ... more Τα μέσα και η τεχνογνωσία για τις συναλλαγές ως τεχνολογίες επικοινωνίας αντιστρέφουν το ερώτημα πώς οι τεχνολογίες πληροφορικής επηρεάζουν τους τρόπους συναλλαγών. Ηλεκτρονικό περιοδικό "Απόψεις" (2014), σελ. 41.
Αυτές είναι οι αρχικές σημειώσεις μελέτης (Α΄ σειρά σχολίων) για το Κομμουνιστικό Μανιφέστο που ... more Αυτές είναι οι αρχικές σημειώσεις μελέτης (Α΄ σειρά σχολίων) για το Κομμουνιστικό Μανιφέστο που υποβλήθηκαν τον Μάρτιο 2010 στο Τμήμα Οικονομικών Επιστημών του Πανεπιστημίου Κρήτης, στα πλαίσια του Σεμιναρίου Πολιτικής Οικονομίας που διεξήχθη στο Ρέθυμνο το Μάρτιο – Οκτώβριο 2010.
Marx & Engels' views on Eastern Question: An attempt of critical approach [undergraduate paper for the Department of Turkish and Contemporary Asian Studies, Athens, 2011]
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This is podcast no 8 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 7 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 2 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 4 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 5 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 1 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 3 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 6 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
The entry describes various types of currencies that are used along with the official ones in various economies of the 21st century, the main historical precedents and main debates concerning the character of the currencies and their use. The chapter includes examples like digital currencies and specialized currencies aiming at achieving a designated goal within the economy
Chapter in the volume edited by D.Vaiou, G.Petraki & M.Stratigaki in honour of Kaiti Paparriga-Kostavara (2021) "Gender-based violence - Violence against women", Alexandria Publishing, Athens, pp. 197-212. The paper has been published in Greek.
Περίληψη:
Η παρούσα μελέτη εξετάζει την πατριαρχική βία, τόσο συστηματική όσο και περιστασιακή, που προκύπτει —κατά καιρούς— σε πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης. Η πατριαρχική βία στις συλλογικότητες έχει, συνήθως, αρνητικά αποτελέσματα πρωτίστως για τα θύματα της βίας, κατόπιν για την αλληλεγγύη και τους στόχους της και εν τέλει για τις ίδιες τις πρωτοβουλίες ως οργανώσεις.
Οι ερωτήσεις και τα περιστατικά που, έχοντας καταστεί ανώνυμα, χρησιμοποιούνται σ’ αυτή τη μελέτη, προέρχονται από μακροχρόνια επιτόπια έρευνα στην Ελλάδα, ενώ χρησιμοποιούνται και παραδείγματα από δημοσιευμένα περιστατικά. Ως αναλυτικό εργαλείο χρησιμοποιείται η έννοια της εργασίας αλληλεγγύης και οι άνθρωποι που την παρέχουν ονομάζονται εργάτριες και εργάτες αλληλεγγύης. Από όσα ξέρουμε μέχρι στιγμής, οι πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης έχουν —κατά συντριπτική πλειονότητα— μέλη από την εργατική τάξη και οι γυναίκες υπερτερούν αριθμητικά των ανδρών.
Χρησιμοποιώντας φεμινιστικές και αποαποικιακές (decolonial) προσεγγίσεις, αναλύω, κατά πρώτο λόγο, ζητήματα σχετικά με τη συστημική βία που εξαναγκάζει συγκεκριμένες κοινωνικές ομάδες να προβαίνουν σε αυτοεκμετάλλευση, υπερεργασία ή και αναγκαστική παροχή υπηρεσιών. Κυρίως όμως, η πατριαρχική βία μέσα στις πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης, εξαιτίας της εκτεταμένης εργασίας που περιλαμβάνουν, αναιρεί το πρόταγμα της αλληλεγγύης και ενίοτε τρέπει αυτές σε υποστηρικτικές δομές ή τουλάχιστον αναπαραγωγικές της καπιταλιστικής πατριαρχίας.
Abstract: The present study examines patriarchal violence, both systematic and occasional, that arises - at times - in solidarity initiatives. Patriarchal violence in collectives usually has negative effects primarily on the victims of violence, then on solidarity and its goals, and finally on the initiatives themselves as organisations.
The questions and incidents that, after been anonymised, are used in this study, come from long-term field research in Greece, while examples from published incidents are also used. The concept of solidarity work is used as an analytical tool and the people who provide it are called solidarity workers. To the best of our knowledge so far, solidarity initiatives have an overwhelming majority of working-class members, and women outnumber men.
Using feminist and decolonial approaches, I analyse, first of all, issues related to the systemic violence that forces certain social groups to self-exploitation, overwork or even forced provision of service. Above all, however, patriarchal violence within solidarity initiatives, because of the extensive work they involve, nullifies the solidarity project and sometimes turns the initiatives into structures supporting, or at least reproducing capitalist patriarchy.
Abstract:
Over the past decade, the term bioeconomy has emerged in both policy and academic discourse. Implying a technology-driven approach to wealth generation from organic materials, the term has taken hold with so far limited critical engagement. It is a contestable rather than contested term. Noting the rise of numerous other ‘economies’ (blue, green, circular) on a similar timeframe, this paper undertakes a critical discourse analysis of academic literature and UK/EU policy documents using the term ‘bioeconomy’ to produce a contextualized understanding of how it is used in both theoretical and practical contexts. Our analysis shows that bioeconomy, as with the other ‘sustainability’ economies, which we term the ‘S-economies’, prioritises the economy and the markets as the solution brokers for the environmental and economic problems they seek to address. The apparent fragmentation of the theory and policy concerning the environmental sustainability of economic activity is expressed through the variability of terms that aspire to establish multiple economies functioning at the same time. Limited empirical analysis of the existing ‘bioeconomy’ is symptomatic of the dissociation between theory and practice, emphasizing technological approaches favouring capital intensive approaches over local solutions. The S-economies, including the bioeconomy, are an attempt to bypass economic structural realities that otherwise would need to be addressed.
The volume consists of the (peer-reviewed) Proceedings of the 27nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference (Mid Sweden University, 13 – 15 July 202) and is available at http://miun.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1608600&dswid=9296
Abstract:
This paper discusses the bioeconomic processes of small production and small distribution modes in East Yorkshire, UK. In particular, the focus is on whether and how this small-scale bioeconomy is connected to sustainable practices and in what way those practices are supporting the local ecosystems, including the human ones. The paper is related to the wider debate about the character of the bioeconomy as a sustainability initiative. We take a critical position concerning this issue. We do not consider the bioeconomy in general as an inherently sustainable way for organising production and distribution of goods and services. Within this framework, we investigate in our research project, whether small production and small distribution as bioeconomic processes include any practices that can support both environmental and social sustainability. The paper (part of the Research England funded THYME project, dedicated to the bioeconomy in the North East of England) focuses on farmers' markets in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Using data from interviews and observations we present and discuss findings about the local small markets and how the producers, traders or even consumers involved with them are linking their market activity to greater sustainability efforts. The major finding is that at least the food part of the small markets in East Yorkshire is very locally embedded. The nomadic character of the market traders and producers means that locally produced goods reach small places without the customers needing to concentrate in a nearby big trade centre, like a city market or a big supermarket. At the same time, the traders and producers try to avoid wasting produce as much as possible by adopting various practices, including sharing, non-monetary distribution and donations. The paper contributes to the discussions related to SDGs 2 (zero hunger), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 13 (climate action).
This paper examines the persistent food shortages in the island of Crete under Venetian rule (1204–1669) through the prism of the monetary system of Venetian territories and in combination with the other economic policies of the Venetian empire. From the available sources and analysis, it seems that the policies of Venice which prioritised the food security of the metropolis, the financial support to the elites, and the elite-favouring monetary and taxation system were contradictory and self-defeating. In particular, the monetary structure of the colonial economy and the taxation system seem to have been forcing both Cretans and Venetian settlers to produce wine for export instead of grain
despite the repeated food shortages. The parallel circulation of various high-value (white money) and low-value (black money) currencies in the same economy and the insistence of the Venetian administration to receive taxes in white money seems to have been consistently undermining the food security policy adopted by the same authorities. The paper contributes to the discussion of how parallel currencies can stabilise an economy or can create structural destabilisation propensities, depending on coeval economic structures that usually go unexamined when we examine monetary instruments.
Keywords: parallel currencies; black money; white money; Venice; Crete; food security
Women are well involved in all those schemes, in both their coordination and management, but also in the production and sharing practices which are necessary in order that the schemes work. Not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of decision-making, women have very important roles within the schemes and their contributions are clearly (considered as) needed, respected and praised.
However, the main question concerning women’s involvement in schemes where people do not use the official currency and/or try to undertake economic activities within a framework of solidarity instead of competition is: How do women handle the tension between the obligatory nature of their choices, given the high unemployment and poverty rates and the public expenditure cuts in terms of social services, and the will to explore new ways of arranging the satisfaction of individual and community material needs beyond the mainstream, capitalist and patriarchal market?
The paper’s scope is to examine some main issues concerning this tension and how this is expressed through practical problems which the scheme members need to resolve in order to develop their activities and cover the needs aimed at. How do the scheme members, particularly women, find materials which are only produced in the mainstream market like medicines, books or certain food materials, which are needed within the schemes? How time management is important within the scheme and how do women cope with multiple tasks, their own personal, family and community needs and the needs of the scheme? How do scheme politics are affecting the role(s) of women within and outside the scheme, how tensions and disputes are resolved, how resources are allocated and re-shared so that the increasing individual, household and community needs are satisfied?
The paper includes field data acquired through empirical research, by the methods of observation by participation, text analysis, and the conduct of interviews with research participants.
Keywords: Greece, women, solidarity structures, transactions without official currency, community needs.
Το κεφάλαιο βρίσκεται στον συλλογικό τόμο των W.G.Mullins & P.Batra-Wells (eds) (2019) The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, Utah State University Press-University Press of Colorado, pp. 214-233.
The chapter analyses a folk tale from Crete island, referring to the use of technology and the impact of that use when technology is under the control of different social classes.
Chapter 10 in W.G.Mullins & P.Batra-Wells (eds) (2019) The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, Utah State University Press-University Press of Colorado, pp. 214-233.
The chapter explores violence, both systemic and incidental, that a social researcher may encounter during field research. The questions and anonymised cases used in this chapter stem from field research concerning public spaces of work related to, or organized by, social movements and grassroots initiatives. This work is usually defined as “unpaid” or “volunteering”, but also encapsulates work performed within arrangements of collective production beyond the paid–unpaid binary. Feminist and decolonial approaches are used to analyse ethical questions related to the stance a researcher may employ in social contexts where structural violence already exists (a patriarchal–racist–capitalist society) and where new incidents of physical or psychological violence may emerge and come to the researcher’s attention. The chapter employs the stance that when violence exists in or against a community this is a research finding that affects the integrity of the researcher, of the research, and the well-being of focus communities.
Keywords: violence, field research, unpaid labour, grassroots movements, research ethics
Στο: Kate Power, Tanweer Ali & Eva Lebduskova, editors (2019): Discourse analysis and austerity: Critical studies from economics and linguistics, Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group, σελ. 80-107.
[Περίληψη στα ελληνικά μετά το αγγλικό κείμενο]
Our research focuses on both the discourse concerning the role of a State/government in austerity context and on what the practice of austerity policies imply for the role of the State in the economy. We use two countries, Argentina and Greece, as case studies in order to investigate, first in which ways the discourse about the role of the State supported austerity policies and created a conceptual framework for further promotion of neoliberal reforms; and second, whether and to what extent the “less State” argument was a cover for changing or even expanding the role of the central government to directly benefit capitalist agents and redistribute social wealth in favour of the few.
By putting the debate on the role of the State at the center of our analysis, we found out that the State has a central role in austerity policies and without its firm, even violent, intervention, those policies would not be possible to be implemented. In contrast to the discourse, the State is not “reduced” but enhanced or expanded to a different direction.
We used historical and contemporary information in order to examine how the “less State” argument has been used in both Argentina and Greece during the last decades. Our analysis takes into account the different historical and social contexts of the two countries, for example, the blood-thirsty anti-communist “preventive counterrevolution” in Argentina, or Greece’s participation in the Eurozone. However, differences are intertwined with several major commonalities in neoliberal policies in both countries, like the destruction of hundreds of thousands of job positions, the impoverishment of the majority of the population, the breakdown of public services and previously established social rights, the privatisation of the commons and several public goods and services and the acute repression of emerging resistances.
Keywords: State, austerity, welfare, privatisations, deregulation, Argentina, Greece.
“Λιγότερο Κράτος” στη λιτότητα: Μια έννοια που κρύβει τον κεντρικό φορέα των νεοφιλελεύθερων πολιτικών
Η έρευνά μας επικεντρώνεται τόσο στον λόγο αναφορικά με το ρόλο του Κράτους/κυβέρνησης σε ένα πλαίσιο λιτότητας όσο και στο τί συνεπάγονται οι πολιτικές λιτότητας για τον ρόλο του Κράτους στην οικονομία. Χρησιμοποιούμε δύο χώρες, την Αργεντινή και την Ελλάδα, ως περιπτωσιολογικές μελέτες ώστε να διερευνήσουμε, πρώτον με ποιούς τρόπους ο λόγος για τον ρόλο του Κράτους στήριξε τις πολιτικές λιτότητας και δημιούργησε ένα εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο για περαιτέρω προώθηση νεοφιλελεύθερων μεταρρυθμίσεων. Και δεύτερον, για να διερευνήσουμε εάν και σε ποιά έκταση το επιχείρημα για «λιγότερο Κράτος» ήταν μια επικάλυψη για να μεταβληθεί ή ακόμη και να επεκταθεί ο ρόλος της κεντρικής κυβέρνησης ώστε να ωφελήσει ευθέως καπιταλιστικούς φορείς και να αναδιανείμει τον κοινωνικό πλούτο εις όφελος των λίγων.
Θέτοντας τον διαξιφισμό για τον ρόλο του Κράτος στο κέντρο της ανάλυσής μας, βρήκαμε ότι το Κράτος έχει κεντρικό ρόλο στις πολιτικές λιτότητας και χωρίς την σταθερή, ακόμη και βίαιη, παρέμβασή του αυτές οι πολιτικές δεν θα μπορούσαν να εφαρμοστούν. Αντίθετα προς τον (δημόσιο) λόγο, το Κράτος δεν «μειώνεται» αλλά ενισχύεται ή επεκτείνεται σε διαφορετική κατεύθυνση.
Χρησιμοποιήσαμε ιστορικές και σύγχρονες πληροφορίες ώστε να εξετάσουμε πώς το επιχείρημα για "λιγότερο Κράτος» χρησιμοποιήθηκε στην Αργεντινή και στην Ελλάδα τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες. Η ανάλυσή μας λαμβάνει υπ’ όψη τα διαφορετικά ιστορικά και κοινωνικά πλαίσια των δύο χωρών, για παράδειγμα, την αιμοσταγή αντικομμουνιστική «προληπτική αντεπανάσταση» στην Αργεντινή, ή την συμμετοχή της Ελλάδας στην Ευρωζώνη. Εντούτοις, οι διαφορές συμπλέκονται με πολλά μείζονα κοινά σημεία στις νεοφιλελεύθερες πολιτικές και στις δυο χώρες, όπως η καταστροφή εκατοντάδων χιλιάδων θέσεων εργασίας, η εκφτώχυνση της πλειοψηφίας του πληθυσμού, η κατάρρευση των δημοσίων υπηρεσιών και των προηγουμένως καθιερωμένων κοινωνικών δικαιωμάτων, η ιδιωτικοποίηση των κοινών και διαφόρων δημοσίων αγαθών και η οξεία καταστολή των αναδυόμενων αντιστάσεων.
Λέξεις-Κλειδιά: Κράτος, λιτότητα, κοινωνικό κράτος, ιδιωτικοποιήσεις, απορρύθμιση, Αργεντινή, Ελλάδα.
This is podcast no 8 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 7 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 2 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 4 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 5 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 1 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 3 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
This is podcast no 6 from the Small Markets Podcast series, prepared within the framework of the research project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
The entry describes various types of currencies that are used along with the official ones in various economies of the 21st century, the main historical precedents and main debates concerning the character of the currencies and their use. The chapter includes examples like digital currencies and specialized currencies aiming at achieving a designated goal within the economy
Chapter in the volume edited by D.Vaiou, G.Petraki & M.Stratigaki in honour of Kaiti Paparriga-Kostavara (2021) "Gender-based violence - Violence against women", Alexandria Publishing, Athens, pp. 197-212. The paper has been published in Greek.
Περίληψη:
Η παρούσα μελέτη εξετάζει την πατριαρχική βία, τόσο συστηματική όσο και περιστασιακή, που προκύπτει —κατά καιρούς— σε πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης. Η πατριαρχική βία στις συλλογικότητες έχει, συνήθως, αρνητικά αποτελέσματα πρωτίστως για τα θύματα της βίας, κατόπιν για την αλληλεγγύη και τους στόχους της και εν τέλει για τις ίδιες τις πρωτοβουλίες ως οργανώσεις.
Οι ερωτήσεις και τα περιστατικά που, έχοντας καταστεί ανώνυμα, χρησιμοποιούνται σ’ αυτή τη μελέτη, προέρχονται από μακροχρόνια επιτόπια έρευνα στην Ελλάδα, ενώ χρησιμοποιούνται και παραδείγματα από δημοσιευμένα περιστατικά. Ως αναλυτικό εργαλείο χρησιμοποιείται η έννοια της εργασίας αλληλεγγύης και οι άνθρωποι που την παρέχουν ονομάζονται εργάτριες και εργάτες αλληλεγγύης. Από όσα ξέρουμε μέχρι στιγμής, οι πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης έχουν —κατά συντριπτική πλειονότητα— μέλη από την εργατική τάξη και οι γυναίκες υπερτερούν αριθμητικά των ανδρών.
Χρησιμοποιώντας φεμινιστικές και αποαποικιακές (decolonial) προσεγγίσεις, αναλύω, κατά πρώτο λόγο, ζητήματα σχετικά με τη συστημική βία που εξαναγκάζει συγκεκριμένες κοινωνικές ομάδες να προβαίνουν σε αυτοεκμετάλλευση, υπερεργασία ή και αναγκαστική παροχή υπηρεσιών. Κυρίως όμως, η πατριαρχική βία μέσα στις πρωτοβουλίες αλληλεγγύης, εξαιτίας της εκτεταμένης εργασίας που περιλαμβάνουν, αναιρεί το πρόταγμα της αλληλεγγύης και ενίοτε τρέπει αυτές σε υποστηρικτικές δομές ή τουλάχιστον αναπαραγωγικές της καπιταλιστικής πατριαρχίας.
Abstract: The present study examines patriarchal violence, both systematic and occasional, that arises - at times - in solidarity initiatives. Patriarchal violence in collectives usually has negative effects primarily on the victims of violence, then on solidarity and its goals, and finally on the initiatives themselves as organisations.
The questions and incidents that, after been anonymised, are used in this study, come from long-term field research in Greece, while examples from published incidents are also used. The concept of solidarity work is used as an analytical tool and the people who provide it are called solidarity workers. To the best of our knowledge so far, solidarity initiatives have an overwhelming majority of working-class members, and women outnumber men.
Using feminist and decolonial approaches, I analyse, first of all, issues related to the systemic violence that forces certain social groups to self-exploitation, overwork or even forced provision of service. Above all, however, patriarchal violence within solidarity initiatives, because of the extensive work they involve, nullifies the solidarity project and sometimes turns the initiatives into structures supporting, or at least reproducing capitalist patriarchy.
Abstract:
Over the past decade, the term bioeconomy has emerged in both policy and academic discourse. Implying a technology-driven approach to wealth generation from organic materials, the term has taken hold with so far limited critical engagement. It is a contestable rather than contested term. Noting the rise of numerous other ‘economies’ (blue, green, circular) on a similar timeframe, this paper undertakes a critical discourse analysis of academic literature and UK/EU policy documents using the term ‘bioeconomy’ to produce a contextualized understanding of how it is used in both theoretical and practical contexts. Our analysis shows that bioeconomy, as with the other ‘sustainability’ economies, which we term the ‘S-economies’, prioritises the economy and the markets as the solution brokers for the environmental and economic problems they seek to address. The apparent fragmentation of the theory and policy concerning the environmental sustainability of economic activity is expressed through the variability of terms that aspire to establish multiple economies functioning at the same time. Limited empirical analysis of the existing ‘bioeconomy’ is symptomatic of the dissociation between theory and practice, emphasizing technological approaches favouring capital intensive approaches over local solutions. The S-economies, including the bioeconomy, are an attempt to bypass economic structural realities that otherwise would need to be addressed.
The volume consists of the (peer-reviewed) Proceedings of the 27nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference (Mid Sweden University, 13 – 15 July 202) and is available at http://miun.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1608600&dswid=9296
Abstract:
This paper discusses the bioeconomic processes of small production and small distribution modes in East Yorkshire, UK. In particular, the focus is on whether and how this small-scale bioeconomy is connected to sustainable practices and in what way those practices are supporting the local ecosystems, including the human ones. The paper is related to the wider debate about the character of the bioeconomy as a sustainability initiative. We take a critical position concerning this issue. We do not consider the bioeconomy in general as an inherently sustainable way for organising production and distribution of goods and services. Within this framework, we investigate in our research project, whether small production and small distribution as bioeconomic processes include any practices that can support both environmental and social sustainability. The paper (part of the Research England funded THYME project, dedicated to the bioeconomy in the North East of England) focuses on farmers' markets in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Using data from interviews and observations we present and discuss findings about the local small markets and how the producers, traders or even consumers involved with them are linking their market activity to greater sustainability efforts. The major finding is that at least the food part of the small markets in East Yorkshire is very locally embedded. The nomadic character of the market traders and producers means that locally produced goods reach small places without the customers needing to concentrate in a nearby big trade centre, like a city market or a big supermarket. At the same time, the traders and producers try to avoid wasting produce as much as possible by adopting various practices, including sharing, non-monetary distribution and donations. The paper contributes to the discussions related to SDGs 2 (zero hunger), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 13 (climate action).
This paper examines the persistent food shortages in the island of Crete under Venetian rule (1204–1669) through the prism of the monetary system of Venetian territories and in combination with the other economic policies of the Venetian empire. From the available sources and analysis, it seems that the policies of Venice which prioritised the food security of the metropolis, the financial support to the elites, and the elite-favouring monetary and taxation system were contradictory and self-defeating. In particular, the monetary structure of the colonial economy and the taxation system seem to have been forcing both Cretans and Venetian settlers to produce wine for export instead of grain
despite the repeated food shortages. The parallel circulation of various high-value (white money) and low-value (black money) currencies in the same economy and the insistence of the Venetian administration to receive taxes in white money seems to have been consistently undermining the food security policy adopted by the same authorities. The paper contributes to the discussion of how parallel currencies can stabilise an economy or can create structural destabilisation propensities, depending on coeval economic structures that usually go unexamined when we examine monetary instruments.
Keywords: parallel currencies; black money; white money; Venice; Crete; food security
Women are well involved in all those schemes, in both their coordination and management, but also in the production and sharing practices which are necessary in order that the schemes work. Not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of decision-making, women have very important roles within the schemes and their contributions are clearly (considered as) needed, respected and praised.
However, the main question concerning women’s involvement in schemes where people do not use the official currency and/or try to undertake economic activities within a framework of solidarity instead of competition is: How do women handle the tension between the obligatory nature of their choices, given the high unemployment and poverty rates and the public expenditure cuts in terms of social services, and the will to explore new ways of arranging the satisfaction of individual and community material needs beyond the mainstream, capitalist and patriarchal market?
The paper’s scope is to examine some main issues concerning this tension and how this is expressed through practical problems which the scheme members need to resolve in order to develop their activities and cover the needs aimed at. How do the scheme members, particularly women, find materials which are only produced in the mainstream market like medicines, books or certain food materials, which are needed within the schemes? How time management is important within the scheme and how do women cope with multiple tasks, their own personal, family and community needs and the needs of the scheme? How do scheme politics are affecting the role(s) of women within and outside the scheme, how tensions and disputes are resolved, how resources are allocated and re-shared so that the increasing individual, household and community needs are satisfied?
The paper includes field data acquired through empirical research, by the methods of observation by participation, text analysis, and the conduct of interviews with research participants.
Keywords: Greece, women, solidarity structures, transactions without official currency, community needs.
Το κεφάλαιο βρίσκεται στον συλλογικό τόμο των W.G.Mullins & P.Batra-Wells (eds) (2019) The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, Utah State University Press-University Press of Colorado, pp. 214-233.
The chapter analyses a folk tale from Crete island, referring to the use of technology and the impact of that use when technology is under the control of different social classes.
Chapter 10 in W.G.Mullins & P.Batra-Wells (eds) (2019) The Folklorist in the Marketplace: The Economics of Folklore and the Folklore of Economics, Utah State University Press-University Press of Colorado, pp. 214-233.
The chapter explores violence, both systemic and incidental, that a social researcher may encounter during field research. The questions and anonymised cases used in this chapter stem from field research concerning public spaces of work related to, or organized by, social movements and grassroots initiatives. This work is usually defined as “unpaid” or “volunteering”, but also encapsulates work performed within arrangements of collective production beyond the paid–unpaid binary. Feminist and decolonial approaches are used to analyse ethical questions related to the stance a researcher may employ in social contexts where structural violence already exists (a patriarchal–racist–capitalist society) and where new incidents of physical or psychological violence may emerge and come to the researcher’s attention. The chapter employs the stance that when violence exists in or against a community this is a research finding that affects the integrity of the researcher, of the research, and the well-being of focus communities.
Keywords: violence, field research, unpaid labour, grassroots movements, research ethics
Στο: Kate Power, Tanweer Ali & Eva Lebduskova, editors (2019): Discourse analysis and austerity: Critical studies from economics and linguistics, Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group, σελ. 80-107.
[Περίληψη στα ελληνικά μετά το αγγλικό κείμενο]
Our research focuses on both the discourse concerning the role of a State/government in austerity context and on what the practice of austerity policies imply for the role of the State in the economy. We use two countries, Argentina and Greece, as case studies in order to investigate, first in which ways the discourse about the role of the State supported austerity policies and created a conceptual framework for further promotion of neoliberal reforms; and second, whether and to what extent the “less State” argument was a cover for changing or even expanding the role of the central government to directly benefit capitalist agents and redistribute social wealth in favour of the few.
By putting the debate on the role of the State at the center of our analysis, we found out that the State has a central role in austerity policies and without its firm, even violent, intervention, those policies would not be possible to be implemented. In contrast to the discourse, the State is not “reduced” but enhanced or expanded to a different direction.
We used historical and contemporary information in order to examine how the “less State” argument has been used in both Argentina and Greece during the last decades. Our analysis takes into account the different historical and social contexts of the two countries, for example, the blood-thirsty anti-communist “preventive counterrevolution” in Argentina, or Greece’s participation in the Eurozone. However, differences are intertwined with several major commonalities in neoliberal policies in both countries, like the destruction of hundreds of thousands of job positions, the impoverishment of the majority of the population, the breakdown of public services and previously established social rights, the privatisation of the commons and several public goods and services and the acute repression of emerging resistances.
Keywords: State, austerity, welfare, privatisations, deregulation, Argentina, Greece.
“Λιγότερο Κράτος” στη λιτότητα: Μια έννοια που κρύβει τον κεντρικό φορέα των νεοφιλελεύθερων πολιτικών
Η έρευνά μας επικεντρώνεται τόσο στον λόγο αναφορικά με το ρόλο του Κράτους/κυβέρνησης σε ένα πλαίσιο λιτότητας όσο και στο τί συνεπάγονται οι πολιτικές λιτότητας για τον ρόλο του Κράτους στην οικονομία. Χρησιμοποιούμε δύο χώρες, την Αργεντινή και την Ελλάδα, ως περιπτωσιολογικές μελέτες ώστε να διερευνήσουμε, πρώτον με ποιούς τρόπους ο λόγος για τον ρόλο του Κράτους στήριξε τις πολιτικές λιτότητας και δημιούργησε ένα εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο για περαιτέρω προώθηση νεοφιλελεύθερων μεταρρυθμίσεων. Και δεύτερον, για να διερευνήσουμε εάν και σε ποιά έκταση το επιχείρημα για «λιγότερο Κράτος» ήταν μια επικάλυψη για να μεταβληθεί ή ακόμη και να επεκταθεί ο ρόλος της κεντρικής κυβέρνησης ώστε να ωφελήσει ευθέως καπιταλιστικούς φορείς και να αναδιανείμει τον κοινωνικό πλούτο εις όφελος των λίγων.
Θέτοντας τον διαξιφισμό για τον ρόλο του Κράτος στο κέντρο της ανάλυσής μας, βρήκαμε ότι το Κράτος έχει κεντρικό ρόλο στις πολιτικές λιτότητας και χωρίς την σταθερή, ακόμη και βίαιη, παρέμβασή του αυτές οι πολιτικές δεν θα μπορούσαν να εφαρμοστούν. Αντίθετα προς τον (δημόσιο) λόγο, το Κράτος δεν «μειώνεται» αλλά ενισχύεται ή επεκτείνεται σε διαφορετική κατεύθυνση.
Χρησιμοποιήσαμε ιστορικές και σύγχρονες πληροφορίες ώστε να εξετάσουμε πώς το επιχείρημα για "λιγότερο Κράτος» χρησιμοποιήθηκε στην Αργεντινή και στην Ελλάδα τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες. Η ανάλυσή μας λαμβάνει υπ’ όψη τα διαφορετικά ιστορικά και κοινωνικά πλαίσια των δύο χωρών, για παράδειγμα, την αιμοσταγή αντικομμουνιστική «προληπτική αντεπανάσταση» στην Αργεντινή, ή την συμμετοχή της Ελλάδας στην Ευρωζώνη. Εντούτοις, οι διαφορές συμπλέκονται με πολλά μείζονα κοινά σημεία στις νεοφιλελεύθερες πολιτικές και στις δυο χώρες, όπως η καταστροφή εκατοντάδων χιλιάδων θέσεων εργασίας, η εκφτώχυνση της πλειοψηφίας του πληθυσμού, η κατάρρευση των δημοσίων υπηρεσιών και των προηγουμένως καθιερωμένων κοινωνικών δικαιωμάτων, η ιδιωτικοποίηση των κοινών και διαφόρων δημοσίων αγαθών και η οξεία καταστολή των αναδυόμενων αντιστάσεων.
Λέξεις-Κλειδιά: Κράτος, λιτότητα, κοινωνικό κράτος, ιδιωτικοποιήσεις, απορρύθμιση, Αργεντινή, Ελλάδα.
«Δημητριακά: Γνωστά, Ξεχασμένα και Χαμένα»
Καράνου Χανίων, 29-30 Ιουλίου 2017
“Known, Forgotten and Lost Grains”
Karanou of Chania, July 29-30th 2017
To make the research inquiry clearer, I focus on two examples that seem to run counter to what current assumptions about monetary structures:
One case is that of the Byzantine yperpyron, a golden coin of the Eastern Roman Empire which seems to survive in Crete island, both the Venetian rule (starting in early 13th century) and the end of the Byzantine Empire itself (in 1453) and remained in circulation, mostly as a virtual currency or accounting unit, until 17th century, together with various other currencies circulating in the island.
The other case is the Venetian ducat itself, a golden coin minted by Venice from late 13th century onwards and well known for its quality of gold and value in international trade in both Mediterranean and Europe. Yet, it seems that the Venetians preferred to use other international currencies in domestic trade. There has been evidence that in some cases the never-debased golden ducat was not accepted in local transactions.
The paper attempts to set the grounds for further investigation and discussion concerning monetary phenomena and the issues those raise for monetary theory.
Keywords: Venice, Crete, monetary history, yperpyron, ducat, monetary theory
JEL Codes: B50, E42, N13, N23, P4, P5.
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0170840618800102?journalCode=ossa
Abstract
This article discusses solidarity economy initiatives as instances of grassroots organizing, and explores how
‘values practices’ are performed collectively during times of crisis. In focusing on how power, discourse
and subjectivities are negotiated in the everyday practices of grassroots exchange networks (GENs) in
crisis-stricken Greece, the study unveils and discusses three performances of values practices, namely
mobilization of values, re-articulation of social relations, and sustainable living. Based on these findings, and
informed by theoretical analyses of performativity, we propose a framework for studying the production and
reproduction of values in the context of GENs, and the role of values in organizing alternatives.
Keywords: financial crisis, Gibson-Graham, grassroots exchange network (GEN), Greece, Judith Butler, performance,
values practices
ABSTRACT
The paper belongs to a greater research programme related to economic knowledge that exists outside academia and is created and shared by communities through informal routes. One of the sources of this economic knowledge is language itself, especially non-academic language(s). The use of language as a source is also based on the fact that the lingua franca of economics is English and this leads to distortions in our economic education and research, because the economic knowledge that other languages contain goes unnoticed. Therefore, we use our own native languages to (re)search economic knowledge that exists outside academia and can inform economics about contemporary practices but also about historical precedents of political economic importance. In particular, this paper analyses the use of the word " Moira " (" Fate " and " Share " in Greek) and Miri (Land owned by the Ottoman state leased to subjects for cultivation) and raises questions about the similarities and differences in the practices they represent. What is most important though, is that the words refer to perceptions about land ownerships and management that defy our contemporary understandings of land property. Moreover, the paper investigates the use of the words in everyday language, in previous historical eras or even today under certain circumstances, and how both words and the terms related to them connect land practices to various political economic activities and phenomena.
ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ
H μελέτη ανήκει σε ένα μεγαλύτερο ερευνητικό πρόγραμμα που σχετίζεται με την οικονομική γνώση που υπάρχει εκτός ακαδημαϊκής κοινότητας και δημιουργείται και χρησιμοποιείται απο κοινού από τις διάφορες κοινότητες μέσω ανεπίσημων οδών. Μια από τις πηγές αυτής της οικονομικής γνώσης είναι η ίδια η γλώσσα, ιδιαίτερα η μη ακαδημαϊκή γλώσσα, η οποία περιέχει οικονομικές γνώσεις που
αποκλείονται από την οικονομική ορολογία και πολύ περισσότερο από την οικονομική lingua franca, η οποία είναι η αγγλική.
Στην ανάλυσή μας, καταλαβαίνουμε τον καπιταλισμό ως μια μορφή πατριαρχίας και την πατριαρχία ως κοινωνικό και οικονομικό σύστημα. Στις καπιταλιστικές κοινωνίες επικρατεί ο θεσμός της ατομικής ιδιοκτησίας με όλες τις επιπτώσεις της: αποκλεισμός από την πρόσβαση και τον έλεγχο της χρήσης γης, ιεράρχηση των χρήσεων γης ώστε να αποφέρουν το μεγαλύτερο κέρδος, στερήσεις και διάλυση ολόκληρων κοινοτήτων και υποβάθμιση του εδάφους και των οικοσυστημάτων. Η ατομική ιδιοκτησία αποτελεί βασικό χαρακτηριστικό της πατριαρχίας ενώ άλλα κοινωνικοοικονομικά συστήματα δεν διαθέτουν αυτό το θεσμό. Αντίθετα, η γη είναι, εξ ορισμού, όχι μόνο κοινή, αλλά και η πρόσβαση σε αυτήν προσαρμόζεται στις ανάγκες της κοινωνίας/των μελών της κοινότητας.
H μελέτη αναλύει τη χρήση των λέξεων "Μοίρα" και "Mιρί" (η γη που ανήκει στο οθωμανικό κράτος και εκμισθώνεται για καλλιέργεια) και εγείρει ερωτήματα σχετικά με τις ομοιότητες και τις διαφορές στις πρακτικές που εκπροσωπούν . Παρατηρήσαμε ότι πέρα από την ομοιότητα του ήχου μεταξύ αυτών των δύο λέξεων, συνδέονται επίσης με τις αντιλήψεις και τις πρακτικές σχετικά με την ιδιοκτησία και τη διαχείριση της γης που αψηφούν τις σύγχρονες αντιλήψεις μας για την έγγεια ιδιοκτησία.
Μοίρα και Μοίρες είναι μια λέξη που χρησιμοποιείται στην ελληνική γλώσσα από την αρχαιότητα μέχρι σήμερα και έχει δύο βασικές έννοιες: η θεά του πεπρωμένου, Μοίρα, ή Μοίρες στον πληθυντικό, οι Θεές της μοίρας. Η άλλη έννοια είναι το «μερίδιο», το μέρος ενός κοινού πράγματος που αποδίδεται σε κάποιον. Ακόμη και στον σύγχρονο ελληνικό νόμο, μοίρα είναι το μερίδιο κληρονομιάς ενός ατόμου του οποίου ο συγγενής ή ο σύζυγός του έχει πεθάνει. Επιπλέον, οι αποφάσεις της Μοίρας ή των Μοιρών είναι αναπόφευκτες, αν και στον λαϊκό πολιτισμό βρίσκουμε Μοίρες που αλλάζουν γνώμη ή λυπούνται τους ανθρώπους στους οποίους αρχικά προκάλεσαν δύσκολες καταστάσεις.
Για να κατανοήσουμε την κοινωνικοοικονομική έννοια των Μοιρών, χρησιμοποιήσαμε το έργο του G.D.Thomson, όπου εξηγεί ότι οι Μοίρες είναι η μνήμη των προπατριάρχικών κοινωνιών που δεν είχαν ατομική ιδιοκτησία. Σε αυτές τις κοινωνίες, η γη ή ο πλούτος της κοινότητας αναδιανεμόταν τακτικά μεταξύ των μελών της. Επιπλέον, η επιμονή στο πρόσωπο της Μοίρας/ Μοιρών, είναι επίσης μια προσδοκία για τιμωρία από τις Μοίρες / συλλογικά καθεστώτα, για την απώλεια της (συλλογικής) ισχύος και για τις ανισορροπίες που η πατριαρχία έφερε μεταξύ των μελών της κοινωνίας.
Από την άλλη πλευρά, στην Οθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, ένα μεγάλο μέρος των εδαφών ήταν δημόσια ιδιοκτησία. Αυτά τα δημόσια εδάφη ονομάστηκαν "μιρί/miri" και διανεμήθηκαν με ένα σύστημα που συνδέει τους αξιωματικούς του ιππικού με τους αγρότες, προκειμένου να παράσχουν αγροτικά προϊόντα για το στρατό και για τα αστικά κέντρα, κυρίως την Κωνσταντινούπολη ως πρωτεύουσα της αυτοκρατορίας. Οι αγρότες είχαν δικαιώματα χρήσης στη γη, τα οποία δεν ήταν δικαιώματα ατομικής ιδιοκτησίας. Τα δικαιώματα ήταν τίτλοι επικαρπίας και ήταν αποκλειστικά για την οικογένεια του χωρικού που μπορούσε να κληροδοτήσει τη γη στα παιδιά του για τα ίδια δικαιώματα χρήσης και επικαρπίας και όχι για περισσότερο από αυτά. Το ίδιο συνέβαινε και με τα δικαιώματα γης των αξιωματικών του ιππικού.
Παρά τη στρατιωτικοποίηση αυτή, διαπιστώνουμε ότι το σύστημα των μικρών γαιοκτησιών του μιρί κατέστησε αρκετά δύσκολο για τον καπιταλισμό να επεκταθεί στην οθωμανική αυτοκρατορία και υποστήριξε τους μικρούς παραγωγούς λόγω της τάσης αποκέντρωσης που δημιουργεί στον έλεγχο της γης. Μόλις τον 19ο αιώνα με το Tanzimat / Μεταρρύθμιση, η νομοθεσία για την ιδιωτική ιδιοκτησία επεκτάθηκε επίσημα στα δικαιώματα χρήσης που ορισμένες οικογένειες είχαν γενιά από γενιά
Άλλες παρόμοιες λέξεις που σχετίζονται με τη δημόσια γη ή με κοινά συστήματα διαχείρισης βρίσκονται στις σλαβικές γλώσσες και στην αραβική γλώσσα. Είδαμε σε διάφορες περιπτώσεις ότι στη Μεσόγειο και στην Ανατολική Ευρώπη / Βαλκάνια το θέμα της εξουσίας και της κατανομής / διανομής, της εξουσίας ως διανομής, διανομής ως εξουσίας, αναδύεται μέσα από λέξεις που έχουν αλληλένδετες ή και παρόμοιες έννοιες. Αυτές οι λέξεις μπορούν να αντιπροσωπεύουν από μεταφυσικά όντα μέχρι νομικές έννοιες και εκτάσεις γης, και από πολιτικούς θεσμούς μέχρι πρακτικές κοινής χρήσης γαιών. Με αυτή την έννοια, οι διάφορες αντιλήψεις για τη γη, ως κάτι που χρησιμοποείται και ελέγχεται συλλογικά, φαίνεται ότι είναι ζωντανές μέσα από τις λέξεις που εξακολουθούμε να χρησιμοποιούμε ακόμη και σήμερα.
Chapter published in the collective volume edited by K.Geormas (2013): Social Economy - Theory, experience and perspectives, Alternative Publishing, Athens, pp. 101-116.
ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ
Η παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζει τα παράλληλα νομίσματα, τα δίκτυα ανταλλαγής και διάφορες σχετικές πρωτοβουλίες που θα μπορούσαν να χαρακτηρισθούν ως εναλλακτικές συναλλαγές ή μη-κυρίαρχοι τρόποι οικονομικής δραστηριότητας, τα οποία λειτουργούν στην Ελλάδα το 2011. Τα σχήματα αυτά έχουν διαφορετικές δομές και στόχους και η δραστηριότητα των μελών τους αναδεικνύει μία σειρά από ερευνητικά ζητήματα, ιδιαίτερα αναφορικά με τις παραδοχές των κυρίαρχων οικονομικών θεωριών
Αυτό είναι το νέο μου βιβλίο. Μηχανές Εναντίων Μέτρων, που δημοσιεύθηκε την 29 Ιουνίου 2023 από το εκδοτικό οίκο Bloomsbury UΚ. Η εισαγωγή και μέρος του 2ου κεφαλαίου είναι δωρεάν προσβάσιμα στη σελίδα του εκδοτικού οίκου https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/machines-against-measures-9780755639595/
Table of Contents
Part I: the non-mainstream modes of transaction and production and the quantity question
1. Introduction: the non-mainstream modes of transaction & production, or when what works in practice struggles to work in theory
2. Theoretical background: Capitalist patriarchy, quantification, historical materialism in the field and the “alternatives” to capitalism
3. Theory again: Is measuring a form of violence?
4. Approaches, research methodologies and the quantitative methods problem
Part II: The practices of quantifying otherwise
5. Quantities and measures in the non-mainstream field
6. The question of time
7. The question of value
8. ICTs in the non-mainstream field
9. Machines otherwise?
Part III: Machines, measures and (social) reproduction
10. Machines, measures, and the neoliberal version of capitalist patriarchy
11. Machines and measures in service of (social) reproduction
12. Capitalist patriarchal reprise: measures and machines as contested means of (re)production
13. Conclusion: “The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House” and the options we have
Bibliography
Πίνακας Περιεχομένων
Μέρος I: Οι μη κυρίαρχοι τρόποι συναλλαγής και παραγωγής και το ζήτημα της ποσότητας
1. Εισαγωγή: Οι μη κυρίαρχοι τρόποι συναλλαγής και παραγωγής, ή όταν αυτό που λειτουργεί στην πράξη δυσκολεύεται να λειτουργήσει στη θεωρία
2. Θεωρητικό υπόβαθρο: Καπιταλιστική πατριαρχία, ποσοτικοποίηση, ιστορικός υλισμός στο πεδίο και οι «εναλλακτικές» στον καπιταλισμό
3. Θεωρία ξανά: Είναι η μέτρηση μια μορφή βίας;
4. Προσεγγίσεις, μεθοδολογίες έρευνας και το πρόβλημα των ποσοτικών μεθόδων
Μέρος II: Οι πρακτικές ποσοτικοποίησης αλλιώς
5. Ποσότητες και μέτρα στο μη κυρίαρχο πεδίο
6. Το ζήτημα του χρόνου
7. Το ζήτημα της αξίας
8. Τεχνολογίες Πληροφορικής και Επικοινωνίας στο μη κυρίαρχο πεδίο
9. Μηχανές αλλιώς;
Μέρος III: Μηχανές, μέτρα και (κοινωνική) αναπαραγωγή
10. Μηχανές, μέτρα και η νεοφιλελεύθερη εκδοχή της καπιταλιστικής πατριαρχίας
11. Μηχανές και μέτρα στην υπηρεσία της (κοινωνικής) αναπαραγωγής
12. Καπιταλιστική πατριαρχική επαναφορά: μέτρα και μηχανές ως διεκδικούμενα μέσα (ανα)παραγωγής
13. Συμπέρασμα: «Τα εργαλεία του αφέντη δεν θα γκρεμίσουν ποτέ το σπίτι του αφέντη» και οι επιλογές που έχουμε
Βιβλιογραφία
Αυτή είναι η σειρά διαφανειών της ανακοίνωσής μου με τίτλο "Ποιος φοβάται την τεχνητή νοημοσύνη; Σκέψεις από το οικονομικό περιθώριο" που παρουσιάστηκε στις 22.09.2023 στο 8ο Διεθνές Συνέδριο Εφαρμοσμένων Οικονομικών «Οικονομικά και Κοινωνικές Επιστήμες στην Εποχή της Τεχνητής Νοημοσύνης», το οποίο διοργάνωσε το Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλίας, Τμήμα Οικονομικών Επιστημών (21-23.9.2023).
The paper explores the contributions to economic methodology in the book “Economics - The tragic science” by G.F.DeMartino (2022) and how the search for better ethics in the discipline of economics is directly linked to better methods that fit the subject-matter of the field.
That economics can create extensive harm while pretending it is science and even more hard science, is known. Hard science as a term, with its connotations that refer to an approach to knowledge that is quite linked to modernity, patriarchy and (colonial) capitalism, tried to distinguish itself from other disciplines based on an assumption of certainty that some types of knowledge can have and some other types of knowledge cannot even dream of.
However, as capitalist structures seem to reach their environmental and social limits, the assumption of scientific certainty is not as it used to be two hundred years ago. Economics seems to be too slow to follow the trend of “hard sciences” in terms of understanding complexity, uncertainty, resilience and open-system analysis, much less to accept that there are parts of economic activity that we might never know or that we will get to know after it is too late for both the economy and the people living in it.
The ”Tragic science” book raises a very legitimate critique of currently prevailing methods in economics, as those being unethical because they cause immeasurable and irreparable harm to the societies the economic advice is given through those methods. However, any method that leads to so much harm is flawed and should not be used. It is not scientific to use methods that cause so much harm just like it would not be scientific to build a house without a proper engineering study and structure. The question that the book raises but leaves unanswered is whether we just have to manage the harm the current prevailing methods cause, or whether we have to search for better methods. The last chapters give a hint, by presenting the case of the California river and how the economists could contribute positively to policy-making by working with methods that prioritise the prevention of harm.
The despise of economics to methodologies of other social sciences that are less interventionist and less distanced from reality had a drawback that today seems evident, but some decades ago, it was not: it led to most economists not even understanding where the data they use is coming from; to adapting the data and the decision on what type of data they will use, to the model they have and not vice versa; to take modelling and statistical analysis of state-created data as the best way to understand the economy; and of course to turn to research fields that have certain types of data that are convenient for economics and its modelling urge, rather than to fields that are part of core sectors of the economy but are more messy and unstable as knowledge sources than a clean statistical set ready to find from a state or corporate organisation. Stated otherwise, the despise to methodological self-reflection led to ignorance or worse, to harmful economics.
The paper explains how centering the prevention of harm in economics requires completely different methodologies and not only different ethics; how the understandings of the economic activity and even more the policy making through economic expertise demands variety of methods, that would include both quantitative and qualitative methodological tools; and how the quantitative part of economic methodology needs to be re-built from scratch to include quantitative approaches that are appropriate for a planet in climate crisis and for societies struggling to escape inequality and poverty.
In other words, we do not only have unethical methodologies, we also have bad methodologies that cause harm. That unethical and bad science goes hand in hand is something that other disciplines know for some time now and by the occasion of DeMartino’s book, it is time that economics catches up with its peers.
Presentation Video (in Greek) - Βίντεο της παρουσίασης
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDEUmxUsbbk&t=240s
Το νομισματοκοπείο του Δασκαλογιάννη και η νομισματική κατάσταση στην Κρήτη του 1770.
Μελέτη που παρουσιάστηκε την 18.3.2022 στο Συνέδριο "Η Επανάσταση του Δασκαλογιάννη και η Επανάσταση του 1821 στην Κρήτη" (18-20.3.2022), που συνδιοργανώθηκε από την ΙΛΑΕΚ, το Δήμο Σφακίων και την Περιφέρεια Κρήτης. Το πλήρες κείμενο της μελέτης θα δημοσιοποιηθεί σε λίγο καιρό.
The workshop was held within the framework of the project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted as part of the THYME project.
Presentation at the Economic and Social Research Centre of the Ankara Faculty of Political Sciences Alumni, 25.2.2020.
Η αφίσα του Εργαστηρίου Λαϊκών Οικονομικών
The poster of People's Economics Workshop
"Επικοινωνία με διαφορετικές κουλτούρες: Προκλήσεις & προοπτικές στο παγκόσμιο περιβάλλον"
Χανιά, 29.9.2018
"Communication across cultures: Challenges & prospects in the global context"
Chania, 29.9.2018
Περίληψη
Το σεμινάριο χρησιμοποιεί φεμινιστικές θεωρίες για να καταδείξει πώς η αντίληψη για το καπιταλιστικό σύστημα που η κυρίαρχη οικονομική θεωρία προωθεί, διαγράφει την βαθειά δομή του καπιταλισμού που είναι η πατριαρχία. Η πατριαρχία είναι οικονομικό και όχι μόνο κοινωνικό σύστημα και οι οικονομικοί της θεσμοί, όπως η ατομική ιδιοκτησία (σε γη και ανθρώπινα σώματα), το κράτος, η θεσμοποιημένη βία ή και το χρήμα στη μορφή που το ξέρουμε σήμερα αποτελούν εξίσου σημαντικούς θεσμούς με την πατρογραμμική-πατροκεντρική καταγωγή.
Το σεμινάριο επιχειρεί να εξετάσει την πατριαρχία όχι ως κατάλοιπο του παρελθόντος ή ως ειδικότερο ζήτημα για το οποίο αρμόδιες είναι οι κοινωνικές υπηρεσίες, αλλά ως κεντρικό άξονα γύρω από τον οποίο δομείται η οικονομική δραστηριότητα. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο η βία και οι διακρίσεις που υφίστανται κοινωνικές ομάδες και άτομα, λόγω έμφυλης ή/και σεξουαλικής ταυτότητας αποτελούν αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι των οικονομικών ανισοτήτων αλλά και της περιβαλλοντικής καταστροφής, και όχι ζήτημα που αφορά «μειονότητες».
Επομένως, η ετεροκανονική αντίληψη για την κοινωνία διατρέχει την δόμηση των κυρίαρχων παραγωγικών σχέσεων. Πολύ περισσότερο, η ίδια ετεροκανονική αντίληψη κατασκευάζει τη φύση ως θηλυκού γένους και αντάξια μεταχείρισης «όπως εάν ήταν γυναίκα», με τρομακτικές συνέπειες για το φυσικό περιβάλλον, τα ζώα και τα άλλα πλάσματα, αλλά και για τις ίδιες τις ανθρώπινες κοινωνίες. Οι οικονομικές θεωρίες, ακόμη και οι πιο προοδευτικές μέχρι στιγμής, βλέπουν στη φύση παραγωγικούς πόρους ή μέσα παραγωγής και όχι συστήματα συμβίωσης στα οποία παρεμβαίνουν οι ανθρώπινες κοινωνίες για τους δικούς τους σκοπούς.
Το σεμινάριο βασίζεται σε συνεχιζόμενες ερευνητικές μελέτες σχετικά με την πατριαρχική φύση του καπιταλισμού αλλά κυρίως με το πώς η πατριαρχία καθ’ αυτή είναι οικονομικό σύστημα η ίδια, πώς συνυπάρχουν ή συγκρούονται καπιταλιστικά και μη καπιταλιστικά πατριαρχικά συστήματα, και εάν είναι δυνατόν να υπάρχουν μη πατριαρχικές οικονομικές πρακτικές και τί σημαίνει αυτό σήμερα. Τέλος, θα γίνει παρουσίαση ευρημάτων που αφορούν την νότια βαλκανική ή τον αιγαιακό χώρο, μια και πρόκειται για κοινωνίες που διαφέρουν πολύ από τις αντίστοιχες δυτικο-ευρωπαϊκές, και ακόμη και οι φεμινιστικές θεωρίες που έχουμε για τον καπιταλισμό δεν επαρκούν για την κατανόηση του οικονομικού συστήματος στις περιοχές αυτές.
The documentary has been prepared within the framework of the project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted by Prof. Pauline Deutz and Dr Irene Sotiropoulou as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
The Small Markets Podcast Series have been prepared within the framework of the project "Getting to know the existing bioeconomy in East Riding: The farmers’ markets case" that was conducted by Prof. Pauline Deutz and Dr Irene Sotiropoulou as part of the THYME project at the University of Hull.
και στα αγγλικά https://www.academia.edu/30466154/Nature_gold_and_the_struggles_for_value_s_
Radiobubble http://news.radiobubble.gr/2012/04/29-2011-1.html
Ηλεκτρονικό περιοδικό "Απόψεις" (2014), σελ. 41.