ABSTRACT

In the autumn of 2009, at the annual SYRIZA youth festival, a debate was held on the subject of “The Left and Power: What Is the Fox Doing in the Market Place?” (as an old Greek saying goes). It was preceded by December 2008 and by SYRIZA’s identification with the youthful “anti-authoritarian” rebellion, while almost at the same time the party’s electoral support in the polls was soaring to nearly 20% on account of the crisis in the socialist PASOK. This was an extremely interesting but contradictory political amalgam which, as it turned out, the party of the radical Left failed to take advantage of. That autumn SYRIZA went back to its familiar electoral percentages of around 5%, PASOK returned to power greatly strengthened, and everything apparently conspired to ensure a return to normality. Then came the crisis and all the above began to look like the precursor to the major earthquake that followed.