Culture, identity and the liberal nation-state: exploring "difference" & the possibility of change through the "hard case" of Greece

Abstract

This thesis sets out to enrich theoretical understanding of culture and identity in times when both concepts have resurfaced with increased potency both in relevant theoretical literature and in contestation over social and political action. The intractability in the real world of problems associated with culture and identity is reflected in impasses in theoretical understanding. This study was nourished by the belief that were a better understanding of the persistence of culture and 'difference' as sources of theoretical, social and political puzzlement to be developed, the intimate links between theory and practice in matters of culture and identity would need to be revaluated and those areas of theory with such concepts at their heart might be fruitfully reconsidered. Hence in this thesis a grounded theory approach to the study of difference in a particular context was chosen, with theories of the nation and aspects of the liberal theoretical framework setting the theoretical background for an illustrative case-study.The case chosen here is that of Greece, a 'hard case' both for theoretical understanding and for social change. In this thesis, the complexity surrounding that specific context is brought into ever sharper focus, with each level of analysis revealing different aspects of the issues under consideration. First, important historical developments are presented, followed by an exploration of how those developments reveal the genesis and perpetuation of dominant discourses of Greekness. Within contemporary Greece, the institution of the Cultural Olympiad was selected as a pertinent environment in which to explore the current development of dominant 'national' discourses of identity. These latter are further analysed to identify whether they are perpetuated only in conventional ways or whether their varying manifestations reveal a changing differentiation within dominant understandings. Finally, the thesis revisits the issues that first prompted this detailed investigation of the case of Greece.First, the ways in which relevant theory may be informed are examined. Then the substantive argument is advanced that change may be inherent within specific environments themselves (and should not simply be seen as a possible result of contact between differing traditions). Furthermore, if change inheres within a tradition, attitudes to 'difference' may also be open to internal negotiation and positive modification. To respect this insight, and to build on it for practice, would require a re-appreciation of the impact of group history and culture upon individual lives and the initiation of political action based on the potential for change in particular contexts.