Exarchia and the Greek spirit of resistance

Another great essay from Jerome Roos. Great photos too.

We are walking into Exarchia — the unofficial capital of anarchism in Greece, Europe, and perhaps the world. No policeman dares to venture in here, which is exactly why the government has decided to effectively cordon off the neighborhood, permanently deploying dozens of riot police on the edges of this modern Athenian “free state”. Only in the favelas of Rio and the townships around Jo’burg have I seen such urban roadblocks before.

As we walk through the gritty outskirts, I blurt out to Amalia that Exarchia must be one of the world’s prime loci of contestation. I just made up the term, but it sums it up pretty well. Everywhere you look, the walls are plastered with anarchist graffiti and protest posters calling for civic disobedience and popular insurrection. It’s kinda what I imagine the Quartier Latin or Berkeley to have been like back in 1968.

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