Reassembling the Rural: Socio‐Economic Dynamics, Inequalities and Resilience in Crisis‐Stricken Rural Greece

Abstract

Rural areas are places where various social groups live either permanently or seasonally. The mobilities and immobilities of these groups are related to their differential resources. The vast impact of the financial crisis on Greece relates to the major decline of its GDP and enormous increase in unemployment. The article aims to shed light on the complexities of social marginalisation and social exclusion in rural Greece, but also, and more importantly, to theorise the coping mechanisms and strategies by those affected and build upon the experiences of rural areas during the prolonged economic crisis. Population dynamics and the various social and spatial mobilities in rural areas provide the baseline for tracing rural complexities and theorising the emergent coping strategies. The concepts of rural cosmopolitanism and resilience are used to unpack the complexities of marginalisation and social exclusion in rural Greece. A brief reference to the statistical data resolves the apparent controversies related to the changing regional and local geography of poverty and social exclusion in Greece during the crisis. The more focused empirical findings, illustrated in the form of two island areas, illustrate the various coping mechanisms and strategies that are emerging in rural Greece.

Crisis, transformation, and agency: Why are people going back-to-the-land in Greece?

“…Given the financial mechanisms of the crisis, the most affected were the unemployed and self-employed, young and middle-aged families as well as people paying rents or mortgages. Traditionally vulnerable groups, such as farmers and the elderly, were comparatively less affected than urban wage earning families (Papadopoulos et al 2019 ).…”

“…While all economic sectors were affected by the economic crisis, the primary sector weathered the impacts of the crisis better than other sectors. Between 2010 and 2016, the gross value added for primary sector activities shrunk by 10% versus 19% and 25% in the secondary and tertiary sectors, respectively (Papadopoulos et al 2019 : 480). Employment in the primary sector increased from 11.3 to 13.5% from 2008 to 2014, although due to an overall employment shrinkage, there were no differences in absolute numbers (Papadopoulos et al 2019 ; World Bank Data 2019 ).…”

“…Between 2010 and 2016, the gross value added for primary sector activities shrunk by 10% versus 19% and 25% in the secondary and tertiary sectors, respectively (Papadopoulos et al 2019 : 480). Employment in the primary sector increased from 11.3 to 13.5% from 2008 to 2014, although due to an overall employment shrinkage, there were no differences in absolute numbers (Papadopoulos et al 2019 ; World Bank Data 2019 ). PASEGES, the Greek new farmers association, estimated that 17,000 people entered into the agriculture sector in 2011; most of these are presumed to be unemployed individuals from urban areas (PASEGES 2011 ).…”

“…This return to agriculture can also be interpreted as evidence of the increased vulnerability of both urban and rural populations during the crisis (Anthopoulou et al 2017 ). All these studies emphasize the presence of pre-existing urban–rural family ties that facilitated access to land to urban populations (Papadopoulos et al 2019 ; Anastasiou and Duquenne 2020 ). Yet, few studies explain why urban folks that seemingly had access to land and other land-related resources prior to the crisis chose to engage in the back-to-the-land movement during the crisis (Papadopoulos and Fratsea 2020 ).…”

Migrant and Refugee Impact on Well-Being in Rural Areas: Reframing Rural Development Challenges in Greece

“…As expected, in the aftermath of an extremely severe economic recession, assessments of well-being in rural areas hinge equally on economic factors. Although the impact of the crisis varied between sectors and geographical areas ( Papadopoulos et al, 2019 ), the ramifications of the crisis for the local economy were given particular emphasis during the interviews. Two opposing discourses surface from the analysis of qualitative material: On the one hand, the contraction of the national economy resulted both in rising unemployment/underemployment, but also in a cutting back on consumption in the local economy.…”