SOCIO-POLITICAL RESPONSES DURING RECESSIONARY TIMES IN GREECE An Introduction

In the context of the recent global financial crisis - the most severe crisis since the Great Depression - Greece has been heavily affected in almost all aspects of the economic, social, political and institutional spheres. The implemented draconian austerity measures under the bailout mechanisms have led to devastating effects on the lives of citizens that have triggered a plethora of collective initiatives. The main rationale of the Special Issue is to capture the various facets of socio-political responses that have emerged from the aftermath of the Greek financial crisis. The Special Issue relies on original data produced in the context of two EU-funded projects, namely LIVEWHAT and TransSOL, and includes six papers applying qualitative and quantitative methods, providing a rich set of fresh and systematic data on understanding the collective efforts of Greek citizens during recessionary times.