Dispatches from the Greek Streets

indonesia / philippines / australia | community struggles | press release Monday May 28, 2012 12:40 by Melbourne Solidarity ngnm55 at gmail dot com

Dispatches from the Greek Streets: Interview with Antonis Vradis - By Melbourne Solidarity with the anti-austerity movements in Greece

Dispatches from the Greek Streets: Interview with Antonis Vradis

By Melbourne Solidarity with the anti-austerity movements in Greece

Thursday, 31 May

7:00pm

1/81 Bouverie St, Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

In the past two years the austerity agenda of the two major political parties, the IMF and the European Union has been strongly resisted through mass strikes and the growth in various social movements in schools, squares, universities and all over Greek society.

The most recent elections demonstrated the reach and strength of these movements as PASOK AND Nea Dimokratia saw their vote shrink dramatically and SYRIZA, the coalition party/group most associated with the anti-austerity movements, grow to be the second party in the Greek parliament.

A second, more troubling, development was the rise of the neo-fascist Xrisi Avgi or Golden Dawn who have entered into parliament for the first time on the back of widespread anti-immigrant sentiment.

What does the new electoral climate mean for resistance to austerity and how will it be affected by a SYRIZA-led anti-austerity government, as could possibly happen when fresh elections take place.

Andonis Vradis is a journalist and academic who publishes the blog "From the Greek Streets", a bulletin on developments in Greece with a focus on non-representational politics and movements involved in direct action and will talk about the current state of Greece, austerity and the movements against it.