Paper short abstract:

The inquiry will consider how the social narration of ethnic “us” in modern metropolitan Greece could have influenced Greek far right affirmation -having well defined mythologies and ideas about history, society and gender- in a transnational crisis era bringing a crisis of community values along.

Paper long abstract:

In the era of crisis, Greece, and expecially its capital city, Athens, has seen a radicalization in terms of far right discourses. It doesn't involve just openly violent actions against migrants and minorities, but also an increasing affirmation of national identity as based on the central value of "greek mentality", strongly exclusive and openly pathriarcal.

Indeed, the unprecedent success of Golden Dawn represents not just a mere expression of far right thinking, but also the embodiment of a widespread social stance.

Using Furio Jesis's tools of mythologic machine and ideas without words, it is possible to deconstruct some pivotal concepts of the Greek identitary dispositive and better understand the origin of far right escalation.

Filotimo is a stuctural concept in Greek ethnical and gendered social identity. Literally corresponding to "love for honor", it mirrors the foucaultian argument according to which a state, in order to well function, needs specific power relations between men and women, as well as adults and children, which have proper configurations and autonomy (Foucault 1980:187,188). Filotimo's first evidence is traced in Thales (VII cent. B.C.), who defined it as much fundamental for Greeks as breathing. In current usage it indicates someone's "right behaviour" in the social dynamic, consequently defining his/her social identity.

By the analysis of some case-studies, I'll try to retrace how the social narration of ethnic "us" in modern metropolitan Greece could have influenced Greek far right affirmation through enduring conservative rhetorical dispositive, often connected with ancient past and glory, always strongly gender-related.