Communist pre-election campaign Greece

Abstract

The image is documenting a communist party pre-election campaign in Athens, Greece, in May 2012. My research addresses the question of why there is more contention and violence in Greece against the implemented austerity, compared to other debt-ridden European countries where similar measures were adopted? And why did the party system in Greece collapse and extreme right and left parties managed to break into parliamentary politics, while in Ireland, Portugal and Spain public discontent was expressed through already institutionalized parties? In order to understand how the economic crisis affects political and social change I am comparing the reaction to austerity in Greece and Ireland. My focus is on the interaction between political parties framing of the causes of the crisis in their attempt to legitimize the solutions they propose, and the way individuals use or refute those frames in their narration of their interests and identities