ABSTRACT

The Syriza Government of Greece right from its inauguration in early 2015 engaged in skirmishes with the eurozone finance authorities about its election promise to end austerity. With southern Europe framed as an object of disdain, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras bowed to the demand to achieve the impossible goal of repaying the debts the country had incurred after it had surrendered its monetary sovereignty to the eurozone. This chapter investigates the longer-term process of class formation of which the authoritarian neoliberalism applied to Greece was one outcome. It argues that it was a recipe meant to discipline not just the southern eurozone but European society as a whole. The French case illustrates the ascendancy of predatory neoliberalism in Europe, combining the oligarchic pursuit of commercial-financial profit with mounting authoritarianism exploiting terror incidents paralysing public debate. In Greece it was obvious from the start that Syriza was not leading a revolution but at best a rebellion.