Golden Dawn, Media Representation and the Neoliberal Restructuring of Social Welfare: On the Greek Crisis and the Mobilization of Disidentifications

Abstract

Due to the economic crisis in 2008, processes of restructuring and dissolution of the social welfare state have been accelerated in the European Union, especially in the context of severe austerity measures imposed in countries with sovereign debt problems such as Greece. These neoliberal policies have increasingly sought their ‘legitimizing basis’ in discourses concerning a corrupt, ineffective and oversized public realm, while simultaneously promoting the notion of ‘welfare dependency’, insinuating an absence of moral values and proper ‘work ethic’ for the poor and disadvantaged, who are the most affected by the social state's withdrawal. Additionally, such narratives seem to have benefitted from the creation of ‘moral panic’ and the associated cultural representations of underprivileged social groups through mainstream mass media. The current article focuses on the nuances of this phenomenon in Greece, arguing that the catalyst has been the popularity of the extremist, nationalistic and anti-immigrant party of ‘Golden Dawn’. It contends that the representation of Golden Dawn's rhetoric and activism by the media, triggered processes of disidentification with poverty and the underprivileged in the mind of the average Greek; processes rooted in highly emotive sentiments of patriotism, religion and national identity, while linking such groups with the supposed deviant behaviour and ‘inferior’ traits of immigrants. Furthermore, it argues that this discourse enabled the government to ‘assault’ the ideological stance and arguments of the advocates of robust public social interventions from an advantageous position, enhancing the acceptance of its neoliberal agenda regarding public social policy in the Greek populace.