Small Dreams, Big Failures: The Rise and Fall of Syriza

Abstract

Following the outbreak of the 2007-2008 financialized capitalist crisis, the social reaction to the austerity politics pursued by national governments in Europe disrupted the traditional settings of national politics by embodying in the fall of mainstream parties and the rise of radical parties in elections. However, interest in radical left remains low in the literature. Thus, in this study, as an atypical case, the rise of the Greek radical left is addressed by structural political economic conditions, social mobilization and social protest dynamics as well as political institutional conditions. It is argued that that the main reason behind the regroupment of the Greek left around Syriza is the destruction of traditional political settings by the desire for change, which was triggered by the negative social consequences of the austerity agenda.