Vasilaki, Rosa (2015) Policing the crisis: the other side of the story. LSE Greece@LSE (27 Mar 2015). Website.
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Abstract
The paper looked at the views and experiences of police officers during the years of the recent economic and political crisis. The story of the protesters and those who have been resisting the austerity measures in Greece is well documented, however, the story of those who have been tasked to reinforce – via repression – the austerity reforms, remains to be told. The police have not been the object of sociological analysis yet and for a variety of reasons they are a taboo-subject, unless police misconduct or police violence is in question. The rejection, even hate against the police is associated with the political history and the structure of the political landscape in Greece. Since 2008, this relationship has further deteriorated, and the crisis which hit Greece in 2010 has seen an unprecedented use of the police, particularly the special forces, and this has exacerbated feelings of mistrust and rejection. A common explanation for such rejection and mistrust is the use of violence: the police are represented as an institution where violence is endemic – and indeed structural violence is part and parcel of the way police officers perform their duties but also of the way police hierarchy works. However, I argued that this is a partial explanation which does not allow us to discern the larger political stakes at play and the political use of the police by the State, especially during times of crisis of the political system.
| Item Type: | Online resource (Website) |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/greeceatlse/ |
| Additional Information: | © 2015 The Author(s) |
| Divisions: | LSE |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory J Political Science > JC Political theory J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) K Law > K Law (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 31 May 2017 10:32 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Sep 2023 20:08 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/79335 |
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