ΧΩΡΟΕ (xoros): Exploring a Time and Place in Greece PDF
Preview ΧΩΡΟΕ (xoros): Exploring a Time and Place in Greece
XQPOL (xoros) Terms 1 My First Detainment 1 This is a Piece of the Fiction 9 The Revolutionary Project 28 Back to Bachala 55 KouKouA.oq>opm-Hoods 68 The Story of the Liberation of a Migrant 77 I1pooq>uyu<a (Prosfygika) 93 International Psychosis 104 Works Cited 111 Terms X@pos (xoros) Generally defined as space, an opening, a place of encounter and a place where a crack has been cut or ignored, where resis tance (friction) occurs. It also refers more generally to the milieu, the movement, the people engaged in radical actions, and of ten with conflicting people and theories. So, the term xoros both refers to the people in anarchist and other 'opening' movements, the movements themselves, the general at mosphere/ aura they carry with them, and the space in which they operate and build. It is an almost ecological term, in that it envelops. the system/ environment and its parts/ functionaries . .MJTaxa.A.a (bachala) A slang word, that generally refers to mess, or the making of a mess. In the political con text (and on the streets of Exarchia) it has become inextricably tied to riots, riot mak- ers, and the space rioters create with their ac tions. Its associations are lumpen: dirtiness, chaos, uncontrollable energy, trash, hoo liganism, poverty, theft, revenge, raucous fun, cathartic release (of an almost sexual orgasmic quality), and indiscriminate de struction/ attack. Things that we associate here in America with racialized terms meant to invoke fear of the class below the work ing class, the (badly) hidden and uncontrol lable (tightly monitored) people who do not work, and emerge in the narrative and in the mainstage of images during any crisis as an object of fascination and distinction. Bachala has its own walk and timing. This image is often the one associated with the colloquial caricature of anarchy. KovKovA.ocpop17 (koukoulofori) Literally, the hooded ones, the hoods, the hooded. An image mostly drafted by the mainstream media of the people who make bachala. It was meant to dissuade people from entering the streets and investigating/ ii meeting rioters, especially with the insurrec tion of 2008, by creating a character who was dangerous, irrational, not to be interacted with, who thirsts for violence and destruction at all costs (kinda a caricature of nihilism as well). It is also meant to discredit the political aims of anarchists, and to just paint them as violence hungry hooligans. After the insur rections of 2008 and the public disillusion ment of the Syriza party of Greece, the kouk oulofori became almost a cult icon, a folk hero, associated with rebellion, all things against capitalism and the system. This character often appears in a hood, with a t-shirt mask, and knock-off Adidas apparel (the kind that you can buy off the streets from north Afri can migrants), often equipped with a rock or molotov, and weaponized words (curses). Anarchists for the most part seem to distance themselves from the word, partly because it was produced by the mainstream media, and partly because it is associated with hooligan type behavior. Others see the word as an im age of viral potential. iii Anarcho-Tourist This was me. Anarchists in Greece generally divide this category into two types. One is people who come to enjoy the autonomy and lifestyle the anarchists have developed in Ex archia and Athens more generally (collective kitchens, squats, liberated sexual practices, etc.), who are usually painted as hippies who do yoga in the square and smoke weed all day. They sometimes participate in riots, but mostly come to live it up. The other type is the more 'serious' anarchists, who came to Athens to help, learn, participate, and spread the knowledge being generated in Athens internationally. These types usually get into some serious shit, but not too serious, just enough to whet their whistles and become addicted to action, and to the imagination fostered in the safety of a liberated space, one created in the cancerous body of a failed state. (I'm sure the politicians would say that anarchy was that cancer and that Exarchia is the largest tumor.) I guess the other type of anarcho-tourist is the nark, but they gener- iv ally fit into either of the two categories, most likely the more serious one. At first I was ac cused of being an Interpol agent, but was in vited to participate in actions and assemblies anyways. As someone told me, "I have no problem with undercover cops, we are very similar. We are both infiltrators." Kara.Arp17p (katalipsi) Refers to squats. Literally it means under taking, or against-taking. In the neighbor hood of Exarchia there are around twenty squats. They serve as fortresses, operations of attack and defense, locations for collec tive kitchens and assemblies, places where parties can be put together, or movie screen ings can happen, they serve as both commu nity centers/meeting places and as places where the literal resources for survival and revolution can be built and kept (weapons storage, their planning, beds for those who need them, libraries, computers, etc.). They are also usually associated with a certain clique, or coalition of cliques, with their own v
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