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With Greece for Europe Why we need to support the Greek Left now Introduction Greece has been at the centre of the Euro crisis for years. Nowhere else in the Eurozone is the economic crisis deeper and the social situation worse. The austerity measures imposed by the government and the Troika are aiming to fundamentally change the distribution of wealth and the relations of power within Greek society, especially between labour and capital. These policies have reflected back on the rest of the Eurozone, e.g. through the Fiscal compact in 2012 or the Competitiveness pact discussed since early 2013. Greece can therefore be seen as the laboratory for the neoliberal restructuring of Europe as a whole. The political experiments the Greek society is put through may be more radical than elsewhere, but at least indirectly affect everyone in the Eurozone and the EU. At the same time, Greece is the country where the chances for a party of the Left, SYRIZA, to get into power are biggest. Five years ago, SYRIZA barely managed to pass the threshold of votes required to enter parliament. Today they are the main opposition force, leading the polls by a large gap. A SYRIZA government would be the first and only one in the Eurozone to openly oppose the austerity policies and the neoliberal restructuring described above. The elections which could make this possible will be held in 2016 at the latest, but are widely expected to take place in early 2015. These prospects have made Greece the major place of hope for leftists and those fighting austerity across Europe. In this sense, the importance of SYRIZA’s struggle goes beyond Greece: If they manage to get into power and implement their policies, this will open spaces for left alternatives all over Europe. If they should fail, the Left in Europe may lose credibility and hope for a long time. Thus, the question of how we can contribute to a political change in Greece and in extension Europe is the main focus of this paper. We should make use of this historic moment the best we can.
full: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zv2t6vaxg3rluop/mittendreinschwarz_withgreeceforeurope_2014_eng.pdf
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