‘Out With the Bases of Death’: Civil Society and Peace Mobilization in Greece During the 1980s

Abstract

The peace mobilisation against the Euromissiles in the early 1980s constituted one of the biggest mass movements in contemporary European history. The article aims to examine the completely neglected, albeit impressive peace movement in Greece of the 1980s. What mobilised these activists? How did they frame the notion of peace? What were the political conditions under which the discourse of peace became powerful? What was the role of the state and political parties? How did they protest? The article will use national and local press, transnational and Greek peace campaign material, semistructured interviews and polls to provide rich and unique evidence on the way protesters mobilised in recently democratised Greece. Recent accounts of peace mobilisation have emphasized its pan-European character. While acknowledging the merit of transnational approaches, the archival based project, informed by new social movements theory, aims to contextualise cycles of protest mobilisation and highlight the role of national identity that transcended Cold War narratives.