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Dispatches from Greece: ‘‘We were sleeping as Individuals and we woke up as Citizens’’

Kazakou, Styliani-Myrsini LU (2015) MIDM19 20151
LUMID International Master programme in applied International Development and Management
Abstract
The universalistic understanding of the subject embedded in the Liberal and Marxist traditions together with contrasting accounts of unconstrained agency fail to explain the contingencies of ground responses that call for social change. The paper makes a case for the opening of the understanding of the human subject when placed in the theoretical terrain of radical political philosophy elaborated by thinkers such as C. Castoriadis, M. Hardt & A. Negri, E. Laclau and C. Mouffe. The conceptualisation of the human subject as both a creative and constrained agent rescues it from deterministic excesses and accounts of unlimited power. Within these confines, the purpose of this paper was to explore the project of autonomy as conceptualised by... (More)
The universalistic understanding of the subject embedded in the Liberal and Marxist traditions together with contrasting accounts of unconstrained agency fail to explain the contingencies of ground responses that call for social change. The paper makes a case for the opening of the understanding of the human subject when placed in the theoretical terrain of radical political philosophy elaborated by thinkers such as C. Castoriadis, M. Hardt & A. Negri, E. Laclau and C. Mouffe. The conceptualisation of the human subject as both a creative and constrained agent rescues it from deterministic excesses and accounts of unlimited power. Within these confines, the purpose of this paper was to explore the project of autonomy as conceptualised by Castoriadis and relate it to a new articulation of human development. Through a case study of the social movement in Skouries, Chalkidiki, the democratic openings realised by the creative human praxis and the re-politicisation of individuals, were explored. The self-organised communities call for a creation of public spaces where deliberation and self-reflection can take place, resulting in a re-thinking of the developmental paradigm applied in the years of Greek austerity. The question that remains open is how the new social relations manifested in the area can foster principles of social and individual autonomy in all spheres of social life. The paper concludes that processes of uniformity tend to eliminate the multiplicity embedded in social ambiguity resulting in forms of social exclusion. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Kazakou, Styliani-Myrsini LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Democracy and Development Revisited: Exploring the openings through the social movement in Skouries, Chalkidiki
course
MIDM19 20151
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
radical democratic politics, development, public/private sphere, autonomy, Castoriadis, Skouries, Chalkidiki, politicisation, Greece, austerity
language
English
id
5415970
date added to LUP
2015-06-29 15:22:47
date last changed
2015-06-29 15:22:47
@misc{5415970,
  abstract     = {{The universalistic understanding of the subject embedded in the Liberal and Marxist traditions together with contrasting accounts of unconstrained agency fail to explain the contingencies of ground responses that call for social change. The paper makes a case for the opening of the understanding of the human subject when placed in the theoretical terrain of radical political philosophy elaborated by thinkers such as C. Castoriadis, M. Hardt & A. Negri, E. Laclau and C. Mouffe. The conceptualisation of the human subject as both a creative and constrained agent rescues it from deterministic excesses and accounts of unlimited power. Within these confines, the purpose of this paper was to explore the project of autonomy as conceptualised by Castoriadis and relate it to a new articulation of human development. Through a case study of the social movement in Skouries, Chalkidiki, the democratic openings realised by the creative human praxis and the re-politicisation of individuals, were explored. The self-organised communities call for a creation of public spaces where deliberation and self-reflection can take place, resulting in a re-thinking of the developmental paradigm applied in the years of Greek austerity. The question that remains open is how the new social relations manifested in the area can foster principles of social and individual autonomy in all spheres of social life. The paper concludes that processes of uniformity tend to eliminate the multiplicity embedded in social ambiguity resulting in forms of social exclusion.}},
  author       = {{Kazakou, Styliani-Myrsini}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Dispatches from Greece: ‘‘We were sleeping as Individuals and we woke up as Citizens’’}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}