Papers by CONSTANTINE DIMOULAS
In the unstable and turbulent economic and social conditions of our times, the design and impleme... more In the unstable and turbulent economic and social conditions of our times, the design and implemen-tation of effective policies for inclusive growth is at increasing risk. Probably, the most crucial defi-ciency is the lack of appropriate data to support effective decision-making at the national and regional levels.<br> Although household surveys have been rising over the past thirty years, many social aspects in relation to living and working conditions, poverty and social exclusion data still lag behind in coverage and compatibility, especially in the least developed European countries.<br> With this survey, our aim is to draft a gap analysis of the InGRID-2 research infrastructure in the areas relevant to academics and researchers in the fields of poverty and social exclusion in the South-eastern European countries (Balkans). To do so, we initially identified the pool of researchers and academics working in those fields by carefully screening the short profiles published in the web pages of all universities and research institutes in 10 Balkan countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia–Herzegovina, North Macedonia). From this proce-dure, we identified and selected 333 academics and researchers who, according to their profiles, are involved in the field under investigation. Next, we sent to each one of them the questionnaire we designed and a cover letter explaining the purpose of our research. The questionnaires was sent to their e-mail address, in three successive 'waves'. The first wave was in the end of January 2018, the second in the end of February 2018 and the third in mid-April 2018. The respondents to this proce-dure were 28 researchers and academics from 7 Balkan countries (Greece, Croatia, Fyrom-Mace-donia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro) from whom 18 come from Greece.
International Social Security Review, Apr 1, 2014
The article addresses the economic, social and political dimensions of the Greek work-welfare nex... more The article addresses the economic, social and political dimensions of the Greek work-welfare nexus in the context of the recent financial crisis. Explaining the main social protection and activation measures before and during the crisis (a reduction in salaries and in the purchasing power of employees partnered with unemployment benefits, contribution subsidies for employers, training and work-practice vouchers, and fixed-term quasi-employment in community services), analysis is offered of the impacts of these. The article concludes that employment measures in Greece are not only residual and inadequate to meet the needs of the unemployed but have not curbed rising unemployment rates.
The third distinctive phase of capitalist modernization in Greece corresponds to the post-war eco... more The third distinctive phase of capitalist modernization in Greece corresponds to the post-war economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s, a period marked by significant US direct investment not just in Greece but also in Western Europe and Japan/South-east Asia. Other forms of economic support and aid in the framework of US international policy of Open Door also took place throughout the 1940s (‘Lend-Lease’, the Marshall Plan, loans, etc.). However, and despite the country’s rapid economic development during this period, Greece relinquished none of its ‘birthmarks’: its new developmental cycle in the 1950s and 1960s failed to bridge the qualitative gap with the advanced core of Western Europe, Japan and the USA, whereas its geo-politics, because of the Cold War, appeared to be quite upgraded relative to the past. Greece and Turkey were perceived by the USA as a united geo-strategic bloc able to deter, if appropriately supported, Soviet penetration/aggression through the Balkans and/or the Dardanelles or the Caucasus. But from the perspective of political economy, the most interesting feature of the period is the non-adherence of Greece to Keynesian policy-making, high (Fordist) wages and the creation of a welfare state. Especially for the Bank of Greece operating under the immense influence of pro-monetarist Xenophon Zolotas, pro-aggregate demand management policies were out of the question.
We seem to have come full circle. In February 1947 Dean Acheson saw in the fall of Greece the fal... more We seem to have come full circle. In February 1947 Dean Acheson saw in the fall of Greece the fall of Western civilization as a whole and urged the US establishment to provide aid to Greece and intervene there, because the ‘fall of Greece will contaminate the whole of Europe and the Middle East’ benefitting the Eastern Soviet enemy. Today, Greece’s fall is also imminent challenging the survival of the entire European architecture whereas the entire Middle East is up in flames, yet no analogous plea has been made by the USA. The American president, Barack Obama, even warned the British PM, David Cameron, not to put in jeopardy Britain’s position in the EU by calling a referendum.1 An unprecedented decision by the ‘troika’ in March 2013 forced the restructuring of the financial system of Cyprus, liquidating Laiki Bank and imposing a ‘haircut’ of up to 60 per cent on any deposit above 100,000 euros. Why is all this happening? Is Greece (and Europe) no more important for the USA to necessitate a kind of a new Marshall Plan to solve Europe’s and Greece’s financial woes? We argue that the USA does what it does today not because it considers Greece and Europe insignificant, but because it is no longer the power it used to be in the 1940s and 1950s. Our thesis will become clearer by looking briefly at the main tendencies and processes of the international system since the 1970s, processes and tendencies that affect or even condition the preferences of the various political agencies and national states today.
Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, Aug 16, 2013
Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, Aug 16, 2013
Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, Aug 16, 2013
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2013
The stagflation that hit the Euro-Atlantic core in the 1970s can surely be seen as a peculiar cri... more The stagflation that hit the Euro-Atlantic core in the 1970s can surely be seen as a peculiar crisis of over-accumulation, what Robert Brenner calls ‘overcapacity/overproduction’ caused, among others, by ‘uneven development’. Laggards, such as West Germany and Japan whose economies had been destroyed by World War II, managed not only to catch-up with the USA but also to out-compete it, the result being a fall in profitability from which the heartland has never managed to recover to date. But ‘uneven development’ alone cannot explain everything. The concept suffers from a certain reductionism — as it reduces everything to the economic sphere — and Euro-centrism, marginalizing developments and contradictions stemming from other parts of the world. For instance, the 1970s stagflation is linked to a number of structural and agential factors, including the power of Arab nationalism and anti-colonial movements that reverberated across the Euro-Atlantic centres of capital accumulation; the failure of the USA in Vietnam and the class struggles that occurred in the 1960s (May 1968 in France, the ‘Hot Autumn’ in Italy in 1969, etc.); and the policy of detente, which was sourced not just from the first signs of economic decline of the US empire, but also from geo-political and security concerns. Thus, to the concept of ‘uneven development’ we proposed as supplementary the notion of ‘global faultlines’, a hermeneutic, all-encompassing term setting out a new research agenda in IR and IPE.1
International political economy series, 2023
European Journal of Homelessness, 2023
This paper is an extended research note which presents the experiences gained and the lessons lea... more This paper is an extended research note which presents the experiences gained and the lessons learned from the Point-In-Time (PIT) count of people experiencing homelessness conducted in May 2018 in six municipalities in Greece. It first refers to the main dilemmas any effort for measuring people experiencing homelessness have to tackle. This is followed by a presentation of the procedures, the inadequacies, and the results of the pilot count of the homeless population in Greece. The main conclusion is that an accurate and strictly scientific enumeration of the homeless is impossible unless a huge number of resources are periodically devoted to this goal. At last, it proposes the combination of the PIT method with targeted qualitative field work as an optimal choice for measuring the homeless population.
The Politics of International Political Economy, 2014
We present the main findings from pilot research on the homeless population in six municipal area... more We present the main findings from pilot research on the homeless population in six municipal areas in Greece in 2018. The project employed the “point-in–time” technique, combining counting by observation with interviewing where possible. The procedure succeeded in engaging local communities and NGOs in enumerating the homeless population. A large part of the housing needs of the homeless remains unmet, especially in the major metropolitan centres, despite increased provision of emergency shelters and services since 2012. Younger ages face alarming difficulty in accessing housing support. Financial hardship and unemployment contribute separately and interactively with other stressors to increased homelessness
In the unstable and turbulent economic and social conditions of our times, the design and impleme... more In the unstable and turbulent economic and social conditions of our times, the design and implemen-tation of effective policies for inclusive growth is at increasing risk. Probably, the most crucial defi-ciency is the lack of appropriate data to support effective decision-making at the national and regional levels.<br> Although household surveys have been rising over the past thirty years, many social aspects in relation to living and working conditions, poverty and social exclusion data still lag behind in coverage and compatibility, especially in the least developed European countries.<br> With this survey, our aim is to draft a gap analysis of the InGRID-2 research infrastructure in the areas relevant to academics and researchers in the fields of poverty and social exclusion in the South-eastern European countries (Balkans). To do so, we initially identified the pool of researchers and academics working in those fields by carefully screening the short profiles publish...
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Papers by CONSTANTINE DIMOULAS