Socialities of solidarity: revisiting the gift taboo in times of crises

Abstract

This article addresses solidarity and the opening of social spaces in the relations between refugees and residents of Greece who try to help them. ‘Socialities of solidarity’ materialise alternative worldviews; they are loci for the production of lateral relationships; places inhabited by the prospects that derive from the political production of sociality. The article discusses the ‘gift taboo’, dominant in the pre‐crisis era, that reflects the risks of giving to the formation of horizontal relationships. In the contemporary ‘European refugee crisis, and other crises, the gift taboo has collapsed, posing challenges to the egalitarian visions of sociality.

Empathy, as Affective Ethical Technology and Transformative Political Praxis

“…Institutionalised sources of citizen-support-municipalities, NGOs, the church-complemented the local humanitarian landscape, by maintaining food-, cloth-and medicine-banks. Very interestingly, and as recent anthropological work has documented (Cabot 2014(Cabot , 2016Rozakou 2016aRozakou , 2016bTheodossopoulos 2016), the overwhelming majority of participants to humanitarian initiatives iii maintain an aversion towards the notions of philanthropy and charity, and a clear preference for the term 'solidarity', a more politically-conscious alternative (Rakopoulos 2015(Rakopoulos , 2016Theodossopoulos 2016), which resonates more closely with the empathetic approach.…”

“…A cynical observer could easily argue that the emphasis on the notion of 'solidarity' in the Greek context is merely rhetorical, a superficial replacement of the terms 'charity' and 'humanitarianism'. Yet, as an emerging body of ethnographic work has shown (Bakalaki 2008;Rozakou 2012Rozakou , 2016aRozakou , 2016bCabot 2014Cabot , 2016Rakopoulos 2014aRakopoulos , 2014bRakopoulos , 2015Rakopoulos 2016, the choice of words here has a political significance; it captures the desire of situated local actors to resist austerity (Theodossopoulos 2016). Voluntary work dedicated to the provision of food for impoverished fellow citizens is seen by solidarity volunteers as a conscious political standpoint, which conveys a message of defiance towards austerity: 'we will not passively accept the imposition of austerity rules', have said some of the volunteers, 'we will not stay inert, when our neighbour next door is suffering'.…”

Dealing with Undeniable Differences in Thessaloniki’s Solidarity Economy of Food

“…Solidarity is not a static or uniform term; it has been the subject of debate amongst scholars and activists in Greece over these years of crisis [15][16][17][18][19]. Viewed as a moral act, it must be enacted outside of the family, without the intent of personal gain or profit, nor with the embedding of exclusionary practices such as soup kitchens run exclusively for Greeks [4,16].…”

‘Edgy’ politics and European anthropology in 2016

“…The shared predicament of anthropologists and precarious others was perhaps most clearly mapped out in the SA/AS special issue on solidarities in Greece (cf. Rozakou ), whose analyses included many Greek anthropologists and whose circumstances served as ‘a perfect mirror’ (Herzfeld ) for neoliberal reforms and their effects on everyday political relations. The authors of the section show how people may be rehumanised through solidarities of ‘friendship’, ‘humanitarian affect’ and embodied engagements.…”