Universities in Crisis: Towards an Anatomy of “Resistance”

In this presentation I shall offer an ethnographic glimpse of the crisis as viewed and experienced in the Greek university, in prevailing ideological and discursive trends among the actors involved (faculty, staff, students).  Specifically I examine claims and practices of “resistance,” by focusing particularly on subjects and collectivities positioned as dissenting and, in this process, maintaining a relationship of apprehension and contention with (what is perceived as) authority and the state.  I observe how this unfolds from more moderate to more radical stances, such as being critical towards northern Europe (e.g. Germany) and the neoliberal economic system, denouncing the recent education reform, or, as a rule, evoking rupture as a means to challenge the state of affairs.  I emphasize what I view as significant features of these positionings, such as the perception of the political as alluding to specific political party allegiances; or the recurrent dualisms (progressive versus conservative, authority versus “the people”), hence the implied moralization of political action.  I explore these developments in official and non-official contexts, from the intimacy of the university hallways to the formality of the department meetings, as well as in instances of public protest.  I attempt a genealogical tracing of these positionings, e.g. by means of tracing resistance (and other derivatives or synonyms) as ideological repository in recent Greek history.  This discussion aims to question the timeliness, pragmatism, and pertinence of such ideological positionings in “exceptional” moments, such as that of the current crisis.