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With the Greek Left for a Democratic Europe!
To/Against/For: With the Greek Left for a Democratic Europe!STAND with the GREEK LEFT for a DEMOCRATIC EUROPE!
For more information please contact:
Vicky Skoumbi, skoumbiv@wanadoo.fr or Michel Vakaloulis, michel.vakaloulis@gmail.com ;
It is clear that the responsibility for the chain of events that in a mere three years has plunged Greece into the abyss lies overwhelmingly with the parties that have held office since 1974. New Democracy (the Right) and PASOK (the Socialists) have not only maintained the system of corruption and privilege they have benefitted from it and enabled Greece's suppliers and creditors to profit considerably from this system while the institutions of the European Community looked the other way. Under such conditions, it is astonishing that the leaders of Europe and the IMF,
posing as paragons of virtue and economic rigor, should seek to restore those same bankrupt and discredited parties to office by denouncing the "red peril" supposedly represented by SYRIZA (the radical Left coalition) and by threatening to cut off food supplies if the new round of elections to be held on June 17 confirms the rejection of the "Memorandum" clearly expressed in the elections of 6 May. Not only does this intervention flagrantly contradict the most elementary democratic norms but it would have terrible consequences for our common future.
This alone would be sufficient reason for us, as European citizens, to refuse to allow the will of the Greek people to be thwarted. But something even more serious is at stake. For the last two years, the European Union, in close collaboration with the IMF, has been working to strip the Greek people of its sovereignty. Under the pretext of stabilising public finances and modernising the economy, they have imposed a draconian system of austerity that has stifled economic activity, reduced the majority of the population to poverty, and demolished labor rights. This neo-liberal style "rectification" programme has resulted in the liquidation of the economic infrastructure and the creation of mass unemployment. Achieving this required nothing less than a state of emergency not seen in Western Europe since the end of the Second World War: the state's budget is dictated by the Troika, the Greek Parliament nothing more than a rubber stamp and the Constitution repeatedly by-passed. This stripping away of the principle of people's sovereignty has gone hand in hand with the humiliation of an entire country. Here, indeed, it has reached an extreme but it is not restricted to Greece. The peoples of all the member countries of the European Union are utterly disregarded when it comes to imposing a system of austerity that runs counter to any economic rationality, combining the interventions of the IMF and the ECB in support of the banking system and imposing governments of unelected technocrats.
On a number of occasions the Greeks have made clear their opposition to a policy that destroys a country while pretending to save it. Innumerable mass demonstrations, seventeen days of general strikes in two years, and
innumerable acts of civil disobedience, such as the movement of the "Indignant ones" in Synatagma square have shown their refusal to accept the fate to which they have been consigned without any consultation. And what was the response to this cry of despair and revolt? A doubling of the lethal dose and of police repression! It was then, in a context where the governing parties had lost all legitimacy, that it was decided that a return to the ballot box was the only way to avoid a social explosion.
Now, however, the situation is perfectly clear: the results of the 6 May elections have left no doubt about the mass rejection of the policies imposed by the Troika. Faced with the perspective of a SYRIZA victory in the 17 June elections, a campaign of disinformation and intimidation has been launched both inside the country and at European level. Its aim is to prevent SYRIZA from being seen as a trustworthy political interlocutor. Every possible means is used to disqualify it, beginning with the application of the label "extremist" to place it on a par with the neo-Nazis of Golden Dawn. SYRIZA has been accused of every vice: fraud, double speak, and irresponsible and infantile demands. If we were to believe this vicious propaganda, itself based on a racist stigmatisation of the entire Greek people, SYRIZA poses a threat to freedom, the world economy and the European project itself. In such a case, it would be the joint responsibility of Greek voters and of our leaders to stop it in its tracks. Brandishing the threat of exclusion from the euro and other forms of economic blackmail, an attempt to manipulate the people is under way. It is a strategy of shock by which the dominant groups seek to use every means at their disposal to make the vote of the Greek people serve their interests, which they claim are ours as well.
We, the signatories of this text, cannot remain silent in the face of this attempt to deprive a European people of its sovereignty for which the elections are the last resort. The campaign to stigmatise SYRIZA and the threat to exclude Greece from the Euro zone must stop at once. It is up to the Greek people to decide their own fate by rejecting any diktat, by rejecting the poisons that its "saviours" have administered to it and by engaging freely in the forms of cooperation indispensable to overcoming the crisis, together with other European peoples.
We, in turn, affirm that it is time for Europe to understand the signal sent from Athens on 6 May. It is time to abandon a policy that is bringing an entire society to ruins and that declares a people unfit to govern themselves in order to save the banks. It is urgent to put an end to the suicidal drift of a political and economic construction that transfers government to "experts" and institutionalises the omnipotence of financial operatives. Europe must be the work of its citizens themselves in the service of their own interests.
This new Europe which we, like the democratic forces that have emerged in Greece, wish and intend to fight for is that of all its peoples. In every country, there are two politically and morally antithetical Europes in conflict: one which would dispossess the people to benefit the bankers and another which affirms the right of all to a life worthy of the name and that collectively gives itself the means to do so.
Thus, what we want, together with the Greek voters and SYRIZA's activists and leaders, is not the disappearance of Europe but its refoundation. It is ultra-liberalism that provokes the rise of nationalisms and the extreme right. The real saviours of the European idea are the supporters of openness, and of the participation of its citizens, the defenders of a Europe where popular sovereignty is not abolished but extended and shared.
Yes Athens is indeed the future of democracy in Europe and it is the fate of Europe that is at stake. By a strange irony of history, the Greeks, stigmatised and impoverished, are at the front line of our struggle for a common future.
Let us listen to them, support them and defend them!!!
(A short version of this text has been published in French by Libération on June 5th)
First signatories:
Etienne BALIBAR, philosopher
Vicky SKOUMBI, chief editor of aletheia (Athens)
Michel VAKALOULIS, philosopher and sociologist
The appeal has already been signed by more than 170 personalities, including:
Giorgio AGAMBEN, philosophe
Michel AGIER, anthropologue
Tariq ALI, historien
Tewfik ALLAL, écrivain, président du Manifeste des Libertés
Denis ALLARD, chercheur au CNRS
Elmar ALTVATER, philosophe
Charles ALUNNI, philosophe
Bernard ANCORI, professeur d’épistémologie, vice-président Sciences en Société
Dominique ANGEL, artiste
Arturo ARMONE CARUSO, metteur en scène et comédien
Chryssanthi AVLAMI, historienne
Jean-Marc BABOU
Alain BADIOU, philosophe
Maria-Benedita BASTO, maître de conférences, Université Paris IV
Fethi BENSLAMA, philosophe et psychanalyste
Philippe BERAUD, économiste, professeur d'université
Fernanda BERNARDO
Samuel BIANCHINI, artiste et maître de conférences
Annie BIDET-MORDREL, philosophe
Jacques BIDET, philosophe
Guillaume BOCCARA, anthropologue, CNRS-EHESS
Constantinia BOGOS-HELFER, médecin
Carlo BORDINI, poète
Paul BOUFFARTIGUE, sociologue
Jean-Raphaël BOURGE, politologue
Jean Pierre BOURQUIN, peintre
Wendy BROWN, University of California
Claude CALAME, Directeur d'études à l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
Patrick CAVAGNET
Didier CHATENAY, physicien, CBRS
Gérard CLADY
Pierre CLEMENT, biologist
Rémi COIGNET, critique
Catherine COLLIOT-THELENE, philosophe
Thomas COUTROT, économiste atterré, co-président d’ATTAC
Marie CUILLERAI, philosophe, Université Paris 8
Philippe CYROULNIK, critique d’art
Dominique De BEIR, artiste
Judith DELLHEIM, économiste, Berlin
Christine DELPHY, sociologue CNRS
Christian DEPARDIEU
Anne DIMITRIADIS, metteur en scène
Noël DOLLA, artiste peintre
Costas DOUZINAS, Director, Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities
Jérôme DUPIN, artiste et professeur des écoles nationales supérieures d'art
Maria EFSTATHIADI, écrivain
Jean EISENSTAEDT, physicien
Nabil EL HAGGAR, physicien
Julia ELYACHAR, anthropologue, University of California
Roland ERNE, University College Dublin
Trevor EVANS, Berlin School of Economics and Law
Camille FALLEN
Olivier FAVIER
Jeanne FAVRET-SAADA, Ethnologue, Marseille
Anita FERNADEZ, cinéaste, Paris
Franck FISCHBACH, philosophe
Nancy FRASER, philosophe et politologue, New School for Social Research
Florent GABARRON, psychanalyste
William GASPARINI, sociologue, professeur des universités
Jakob GAUTEL, artiste plasticien et enseignant
Elisabeth GAUTHIER, Espaces Marx, Réseau Transform !
Claude GAUTIER, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3
François GEZE, éditeur
Nigel GIBSON, Boston USA
Françoise GIL, sociologue
Alain GLYKOS, universitaire et écrivain
Nilüfer GOLE, sociologue, EHESS
Stathis GOURGOURIS, philosophe, écrivain
Éric GUICHARD, philosophe (CIPh), Maître de conférences (ENSSIB/ENS-Ulm)
Patrice HAMEL, artiste plasticien
Marie-Elisabeth HANDMAN, anthropologue, Paris
Keith HART, anthropologue
Carlos HERRERA, professeur de droit
Nancy HOLMSTROM
Engin ISIN, Political Science, Open University London
Jean-Paul JOUARY, philosophe
Baudouin JURDANT, professeur émérite
Jean-Pierre KAHANE, mathématicien, membre de l’Académie des sciences
Maria KAKOGIANNI, philosophe
Jason KARAÏNDROS, artiste, professeur Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, ESADHaR
Anne KEMPF, enseignante
Danièle KERGOAT, sociologue
Delphine KOLESNIK-ANTOINE, maître de conférences, philosophie
Dimitra KONDYLAKI, dramaturge, traductrice
Robert KUDELKA
Cécile KOVACSHAZY, Universität Bremen
Jean-Marc LACHAUD, Professeur d’esthétique à l’Université de Strasbourg
Rose-Marie LAGRAVE, directrice d’études à l'EHESS
Bernard LAHIRE, sociologue
Gérard LANIEZ, chargé de mission, Ville de La Rochelle
Jérôme LEBRE
Jean-Pierre LEFEBVRE, Professeur émérite (Etudes Germaniques), Ecole Normale Supérieure
Stéphane LEVY, cinéaste
Guy LELONG, écrivain
Jean-Marc LEVY-LEBLOND, physicien et essayiste
Laurent LOTY, chercheur au CNRS
Michael LÖWY, sociologue
Seloua LUSTE BOULBINA, philosophe
Pierre MACHEREY, philosophe
Bernard MAITTE, physicien, historien des sciences
Henri MALER, philosophe
Philippe MANGEOT, Professeur de Première Supérieure
Bernard MARCADE, critique d’art, Paris
Alexandros MARKEAS, compositeur, professeur au Conservatoire de Paris
Philippe MARLIERE, Politologue, University College London
Tomaz MASTNAK, Ljubljana/University of California at Irvine
Jean MATRICON, physicien
Ugo MATTEI, Professor of Law, Università Torino and California
Alexandros MARKEAS, compositeur, professeur au Conservatoire de Paris
Jérôme MAUCOURANT, Université de Lyon
Robert MILIN artiste, professeur dans une Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts
Paul-Antoine MIQUEL, philosophe
Miquel MONT, artiste plasticien
Laila MOUSTAFA
Ariane MNOUCHKINE
Jean-Luc NANCY, philosophe
Toni NEGRI, philosophe
Frédéric NEYRAT, philosophe
Bertrand OGILVIE, philosophe, Université Paris 8
Josiane OLFF-NATHAN
Martine OLFF-SOMMER
Silvia PAGGI, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis
Mariella PANDOLFI, Professeur d’anthropologie, Université de Montréal
Leo PANITCH, York University, Toronto Canada
Νeni PANOURGIA, anthropologue
Catherine PAOLETTI, philosophe
Roland PFEFFERKORN, professeur de sociologie, Université de Strasbourg
Ernest PIGNON-ERNEST, peintre et graveur
Mathieu POTTE-BONNEVILLE, philosophe
Ludovic POUZERATE, acteur, auteur et metteur en scène
Yvon QUINIOU, philosophe
Jacques RANCIERE, philosophe
Emmanuel RENAULT, philosophe
Judith REVEL, philosophe
Michèle RIOT-SARCEY, historienne
Avital RONELL, philosophe, New York University
Miriam ROSEN, journaliste-traductrice
Rossana ROSSANDA, essayiste, fondatrice de Il Manifesto (Rome)
Anne SAADA, historienne
Maria Eleonora SANNA
Diogo SARDINHA, philosophe
Robert SAYRE, professeur émérite, Université Marne-la-Vallée
Marta SEGARRA, Université de Barcelone
Cristina SEMBLANO, économiste
Guillaume SIBERTIN-BLANC, philosophe
Paul SILICI, Maire de Saorge
Richard SMITH
Jean-Paul SOUVRAZ, artiste peintre
Michalis SPOURDALAKIS, sociologue
Bernard STIEGLER, philosophe
Ann Laura STOLER, anthropologue, New School for Social Research
Efi STROUSA, historienne et critique d'art
Michel SURYA, revue Lignes
Danielle TARTAKOWSKY, professeur d’histoire, Université Paris 8
Etienne TASSIN, philosophe
Jean-François TEALDI, journaliste audiovisuel public
Catherine THENEVIN, ingénieur à l’Institut Jacques Monod, Université Paris 7
Spyros THEODOROU, directeur, Echange et diffusion des savoirs
Bruno TINEL, économiste
André TOSEL, philosophe
Josette TRAT, sociologue
Carmela URANGA, artiste plasticienne et traductrice
Eleni VARIKAS, sociologue, Etudes féminines
Dimitris VERGETIS, psychanalyste, directeur de la revue grecque αληthεια
Jérôme VIDAL, directeur de RdL la Revue des Livres
Heinz WISMANN, philosophe, EHESS
Frieder Otto WOLF, philosophe, Freie Universität Berlin, ex-Membre du Parlement Européen
Clemens ZOBEL, politiste, Université Paris 8
Radmila ZYGOURIS
Recent Comments
| Name | Comment | |
| DEBOT | YES | |
| mispreuve | arrêtons la démagogie et les sophismes de la droite et de la pire réaction liés aux intérêts capitalistes ,affrontons le système de peur et de terreur qu'ils engendrent, camarades grecs, vous avez tous mes encouragements | |
| Alexandre Roig | Université Nationale de San Martin | |
| Esa Hanikka | Democracy, also economic, has to be saved. | |
| Martin Vialon | Yes, I sign this petition. Please mark my name in the follwing way: Martin Vialon, philosopher (Istanbul) Best regards and solidarity, Prof. Dr. habil. Martin Vialon | |
| Andreas Trottnow | Pour une Europe vraiment démocratique! Für ein demokratisches Europa! | |
| Antoine | Libérez les peuples d'Europe et d'ailleurs. | |
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