During llic ' •^Os. I'ASCJK. in cdinimm with tlic other I.:uropc;iii social parlics. has actvoc;itcd Thii'Ll Way rex isjoiiisni iind has placed Ihc "nK)dcrni/alii)n' of the (jicck .sociclv higli on ils pcihtical aticnda. Hy tocusing tm a scries ot contliclual incidcnls ticlwccn the tcaclicr unions anti the (ircck governmcnl. lliis p;i[icr cxcmpliiics ihc rcpeteussions of Itiis process on icachcrs-state rclalions. Buildiiis; upon the dialcclics of path sliajiint; aiKl jialh Llependency. we suggesl Ihal (lie [lailiciilar Llevelopmenl of the modenii/alioii [irojecl aiut llie reaelions it has triggered are lo he aitrihiUed to the histoticaily delerniincd. nalitmally speeitic. ctMUingently acli\atcd insliuilional legacies anti slriieUires ihat. on the one hand, stand in the way of the ineoipttration of (ireece to the RMH/I-SM a[id. on the t)ther. are employed b> the unions to detend industrial and soeial eiti/cnship.

During the 90s, PASOK, in common with the other European social democratic parties, has advocated Third Way revisionism and has placed the ‘modernization’ of the Greek society high on its political agenda. By focusing on a series of conflictual incidents between the teacher unions and the Greek government, this paper exemplifies the repercussions of this process on teachers-state relations. Building upon the dialectics of path shaping and path dependency, we suggest that the particular development of the modernization project and the reactions it has triggered are to be attributed to the historically determined, nationally specific, contingently activated institutional legacies and structures that, on the one hand, stand in the way of the incorporation of Greece to the EMU/ESM and, on the other, are employed by the unions to defend industrial and social citizenship.