Networks of Power in Modern Greece

Book excerpt: Networks of Power in Modern Greeceprovides exciting new perspectives on Greek history and society. The collection presents pioneering work on the Greek merchant marine and the role of women in the Greek War of Independence. Local perspectives transform common assumptions regarding the function of miracle-working shrines and the place of religion in the early nineteenth century. Essays show how clientilistic networks linked the nationalist heroes of the Macedonian Struggle to the anticommunism of the Civil War, analyze the populist radicalism of Andreas Papandreou, a figure who dominated Greek politics in the final decades of the Cold War, and emphasize the ambiguities of a "modern Greece." Additional chapters by leading anthropologists, such as Ren e Hirschon, Roger Just, and Juliet Du Boulay, apply an ethnographic approach toward the understanding of social institutions and practices, from divorce to sacred foodstuffs. Written in honor of the classical historian John Campbell, the multidisciplinary essays challenge conventional ideas of Greek nationalism and social development and touch upon broader issues, including the emergence of nation-states, the relationship between familial and ideological conflict, and the continued relevance of religion in modern life.