Economic crisis, heritage and identity in Europe: A seminar on the cases of Greece, Italy and Spain: A seminar organised by Dr Kalliopi Fouseki (UCL Centre for Sustainable Heritage) and Dr Eleni Vomvyla (Institute of Archaeology) Supported by the UCL European Institute Source: Cartoon image by Ilias Makris in Kathimerini (www.kathimerini.gr) Central House, G01 4th July 2014 1.50 pm-­‐ 5pm 13.00-­‐
13.50 13.50-­‐
14.00 Kalliopi Fouseki & Opening Address Eleni Vomvyla 14:00 Kalliopi Fouseki, Eleni Economic crisis, heritage and identity in Greece: Vomvyla & Mina Reflections from the Greek press. Dragouni 14:20 Discussion 14:30 Jessica Kourniakti Golden Dawn: Appropriating Greek and Foreign Politics of Identity. 14:50 Discussion 15:00 Chiara Bonacchi Emerging identities in the context of the crisis: The Italian case. 15:20 Discussion 15:30 Jaime Almansa-­‐
Sánchez Triggering identities for money? Archaeology, nationalism and the crisis in Spain. 15:50 Discussion 16:00 Kalliopi Fouseki & Closing Address Eleni Vomvyla 16:15-­‐
17:00 Networking, Drinks & Nibbles Speakers’ Lunch Speakers’ bio and abstracts Kalliopi Fouseki UCL Centre of Sustainable Heritage Kalliopi Fouseki works as a Lecturer and Course Director for the MSc in Sustainable Heritage at the UCL Centre for Sustainable Heritage. She is the Principal Investigator for the 'Displaying the public view on energy efficiency in historic buildings' (Beacon Bursary); the 'Economic crisis, heritage and identity in Greece' (UCL European Institute) and the co-­‐leader for the 'European Network on Heritage Values' (funded by the European Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage). One of Kalliopi's main research interests relates to the development of mixed methodological frameworks for understanding public perceptions and attitudes towards heritage. Her current key research areas involve work on 'heritage values', especially within the context of the historic built environment. For further information please see: http://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=KFOUS42 Eleni Vomvyla UCL Institute of Archaeology Eleni Vomvyla works as a Research Associate in the UCL Institute of Archaeology Cross-­‐
disciplinary frameworks for studying visitor experiences with digitally mediated museum exhibits' project. She is also a Research Assistant in the 'Displaying the public view on energy efficiency in historic buildings' (Beacon Bursary) and the 'Economic crisis, heritage and identity in Greece' (UCL European Institute) projects. Eleni has recently been awarded her PhD in Cultural Heritage (UCL Institute of Archaeology), where she explored identity and heritage making within Albanian families in Athens, Greece. Through her participatory work in families' domestic settings, Eleni has become interested in how ordinary objects, as well as activities and memories connected with these, enable transnational migrants to create a sense of home in mobility. In January 2013 Eleni joined the UCL Present Pasts Journal as an editor-­‐in-­‐chief. Email: e.vomvyla@ucl.ac.uk Mina Dragouni UCL Centre of Sustainable Heritage Mina Dragouni is a Ph.D. researcher in heritage tourism at the Centre for Sustainable Heritage. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Resources Management (University of Ioannina, Greece) and an MSc in Cultural Studies and Entrepreneurship (University of Nottingham). In her Ph.D. she examines how emerging destinations can develop sustainable heritage tourism through the active participation of their host communities in strategic planning and implementation. Mina’s broader research interests revolve around perceptions and attitudes towards heritage, heritage management and tourism economics. Email: mina.dragouni.13@ucl.ac.uk Economic crisis, heritage and identity in Greece: reflections from the Greek press This paper will present a detailed mapping of the deconstruction and reconstruction of Modern Greek identity in the current economic, political and social crisis in Europe. It will do this by specifically looking at the relationship of identity and heritage as this is represented in the Greek press since the beginning of the economic depression in Greece, 2009. Selected articles from centre, right, extreme right and left-­‐wing newspapers depict the image of a deeply divided society as a result of the crisis. In this ‘pre-­‐civil war’ context as put by the authors of Kathimerini, heritage acts as a means of validation identity and a sense of security. The commemoration of national anniversaries triggers discourses of unity and solidarity at times of instability and destabilisation for ‘the Greek nation’. More importantly, certain historic events cultivating anti-­‐German feelings, such as these of World War II, are used by newspapers and their affiliated political parties, to provoke nationalistic feelings. These lead to violent xenophobic behaviours and a general climate of mistrust, fear and anti-­‐Europeanism having threatening effects on the social integrity of Greece and the European Union as a whole. Jessica Kourniakti University of Oxford, Faculty of Modern Greek Jessica Kourniakti obtained her undergraduate degree in Ancient History from the University of Bristol in 2010, and went on to complete her MA in Reception of the Classical World at UCL in 2011 with distinction. She has been working towards her DPhil at the University of Oxford since October 2012, which focuses on the appropriations of antiquity by the dictatorship of the Colonels in Greece between 1967 and 1974. This is part of Jessica’s broader interest in the political uses of the classical heritage in twentieth and twenty-­‐first century Greece. She is also currently writing a paper on the Greek neo-­‐Nazi party Golden Dawn and its nationalist discourses. Email: jessica.kourniakti@merton.ox.ac.uk Golden Dawn: Appropriating Greek and Foreign Politics of Identity The Popular Association-­‐Golden Dawn (Laikos Syndesmos Chrysi Avgi) is perhaps one of the greatest profiteers of the financial crisis in Greece in terms of political capital. Today, this neo-­‐Nazi party is in the spotlight of both the Greek and international media due to its shocking brutality, epitomized by the murder of left wing rapper Pavlos Fyssas in September 2013. However, media interest also derives from the popular demand for this movement in Greece. Golden Dawn earned 18 of 300 parliamentary seats (6.92% of the vote) in the June 2012 election, and opinion polls show that support had increased to 11.5% by May 2013.1 1
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Public Issue (2013), ‘Political Barometer 120’, published May 16 2013, accessible at:
http://www.publicissue.gr/en/1772/varometro-may-2013/ (accessed 03/05/2014)
This electoral success is usually ascribed to the current social, political and economic crisis. While this may be the case, the popular appeal of Golden Dawn also derives from the party’s reproduction of familiar discourses of national identity. This paper will argue that the exceptionalist perspectives of ethnicity exhibited by organisations like Golden Dawn are in fact evocative of many Greeks’ self-­‐perspectives, and represent an anchor of stability in a world of uncertainty. In addition, it will show how the movement’s identity politics have been modified from 1980 to the present, in order to normalize the party line and broaden its support base (for instance the transition from an occultist movement to a Christian Orthodox party). The paper will conclude with some reflections on Golden Dawn’s divergences from indigenous identity narratives, such as tracing a biological (rather than cultural) lineage to antiquity. This will not only show how the xenophobic discourses of the current crisis are articulated, but also that the Aryan model is in fact an imported Hitlerian construct appropriated by Golden Dawn, which undermines its claim to Hellenic autochthony. Chiara Bonacchi UCL Institute of Archaeology Chiara Bonacchi is AHRC Post-­‐doctoral Research Associate at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. At UCL she is also coordinating a research network on Archaeology and Communication and she is part of the Centre for Audiovisual Study and Practice in Archaeology. Her main interests are in public archaeology and heritage studies, and so far they have focused on: the analysis of public participation in heritage; digital methods for public archaeology and heritage management; and, more recently, the impact of the economic crisis on the heritage sector in Italy and on communities’ interaction with heritage resources. After completing a PhD on public perceptions and experience of archaeology in Italy and the UK, Bonacchi moved on to examine aspects of digital cultural engagement in the North East of England. Since October 2013, she has been researching community co-­‐production in archaeology, history and heritage via web-­‐based technologies and crowd-­‐sourcing (the MicroPasts project). Email: c.bonacchi@ucl.ac.uk Emerging identities in the context of the crisis: the Italian case. This paper will reflect on the identities that have been emerging so far from the current economic and social crisis in Italy. It will focus on exploring the roles of cultural heritage in the processes of: reshaping a national identity that is either more assertive towards the European Union or openly contrasts it; and re-­‐vamping or creating new collective identities that oppose the notion of a unified Italian Republic. Similarities and differences will be considered between the historic periods and heritage symbols that are evoked in support of pro-­‐Europe or separatist discourses. Observations will build on the analysis of ‘institutional’ media outputs (especially newspaper articles and political talk shows), of public speeches by prominent politicians, blog posts and other writings by key opinion leaders and influencers. Research has also considered the more bottom-­‐up conversations and other content shared on social media by members of secessionist movements, such as, for example, the Repubblica Veneta. Jaime Almansa-­‐Sánchez JAS Arqueología SLU Jaime Almansa-­‐Sánchez is a Spanish archaeologist based in Madrid. Licenciado in History (UCM, Spain), with an MA in Public Archaeology (UCL, UK) and about to finish his PhD, he is the founder and manager of JAS Arqueología S.L.U. a small commercial firm devoted to public archaeology and editorial works. He is editor of AP: Online Journal in Public Archaeology. Beyond his broad interests, he focuses his research in the social image of archaeology and its consequences in the management of archaeological heritage. Email: almansasanchez@gmail.com Triggering identities for money? Archaeology, nationalism and the crisis in Spain. “This Constitution is grounded on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards, and recognizes and guarantees the right to autonomy of the nationalities and regions that integrate it as well as the solidarity among them.” (Spanish Constitution, Art. 2) Spain is a Nation with many nationalities. To the historical territories of Galicia, País Vasco and Cataluña, we can sum Valencia, Baleares, Canarias, Andalucía, León and even smaller territories with their own national identities within those ones. Current regions go beyond the political division and have been forging provincial identities since the 19th Century. Archaeology has played a fundamental role in the development of national identities within Spain, even working for the interest of political reasons since the beginning of the 20th Century. Today, the crisis is triggering again old and new national/regional claims in many territories and archaeology is still involved. The focus is in Cataluña with an open secessionist movement encouraged from the regional government, but the process is far more complex. This paper will delve into nationalism and archaeology in Spain, analysing this long process to finally focus on the reinforcement of national/regional identities with the current economic crisis and its impact in archaeology.