Kostis Roussos | University of Essex (original) (raw)

Papers by Kostis Roussos

Journal of Language and Politics

Logics of Critical Explanation proposed a methodological approach that could render the insights ... more Logics of Critical Explanation proposed a methodological approach that could render the insights of Poststructuralist Discourse Theory (PDT) and post-Marxist political theory more conducive to critical empirical research. It also offered a language with which to counter positivist tendencies to colonize the space of methods and research strategies, showing how PDT could facilitate both explanatory and critical endeavours. Since its publication in 2007, a number of studies have applied the logics framework to empirical cases, while critically engaging with its methodological and theoretical arguments. The main purpose of this article is to evaluate some of these developments, and to set out some future challenges faced by this research programme.

Social Movement Studies, 2019

This paper broadens and deepens the debates on the recent protests against austerity in Greece. T... more This paper broadens and deepens the debates on the recent protests against austerity in Greece. The paper begins by investigating how the global crisis is understood, embodied and contested through the participatory forms of collective action and political organization in Greece. Secondly, it highlights transformations in the political behaviors and lived experiences of the subjects who participated in the recent and ongoing wave of antiausterity mobilizations in Greece. Finally, it emphasizes the '(re-) politicization of everyday life' through the commons, which is a process grounded in the establishment of novel and open spaces of solidarity and trans-local collective action within and beyond institutional and state solutions. Building on these considerations, it is argued that the recent forms of everyday collective action have played a crucial role in challenging the prevailing neoliberal crisis politics, while at the same time are raising key issues for progressive governments and other institutional agents.

Logics, discourse theory and methods Advances, challenges and ways forward, 2021

Logics of Critical Explanation proposed a methodological approach that could render the insights ... more Logics of Critical Explanation proposed a methodological approach that could render the insights of Poststructuralist Discourse Theory (PDT) and post-Marxist political theory more conducive to critical empirical research. It also offered a language with which to counter positivist tendencies to colonize the space of methods and research strategies, showing how PDT could facilitate both explanatory and critical endeavours. Since its publication in 2007, a number of studies have applied the logics framework to empirical cases, while critically engaging with its methodological and theoretical arguments. The main purpose of this article is to evaluate some of these developments, and to set out some future challenges faced by this research programme.

Both social movement research and the literature on the commons provide rich accounts of the anti... more Both social movement research and the literature on the commons provide rich accounts of the anti-austerity mobilizations and uprisings in southern Europe. Movement studies offer important insights regarding the context of mobilization and collective claim making. The commons literature emphasizes bottom-up practices of shared ownership, self-management, and social co-production that move beyond institutional solutions. Although both literatures highlight similar phenomena, they remain relatively unconnected. Their distance precludes a full grasp of the implications regarding the dynamic and abundant to-and-fro movement between protestbased politics and everyday forms of collective action in this region, which is heavily affected by the crisis' austerity management. Drawing on the South European context, this article rethinks key concepts addressed in both literatures (social movements-commons, activistscommoners, mobilization-commoning) and highlights how a conceptual synthesis can sharpen and (re)politicize the theorization of contemporary collective action in the everyday.

Paradoxes in the Management of Timebanks in the UK's Voluntary Sector: Discursive Bricolage and its Limits, 2023

This paper contributes to our understanding of volunteer management by charting some important ch... more This paper contributes to our understanding of volunteer management by charting some important challenges associated with the governance of one of the UK's largest timebanking networks. While timebanking is often treated as a form of volunteering, many timebank advocates are keen to distinguish it sharply from traditional volunteering. We suggest that this tension generates a fundamental 'performance paradox' in the management of timebanks in the voluntary sector. We draw on political discourse theory to characterise and evaluate associated challenges, suggesting that, when viewed against a host of context-specific organisational and policy pressures, the progressive potential of timebanking cannot be realised as a distinct community economy without adequate support. Instead of taking up a position alongside more traditional forms of volunteering, timebanking is more likely to be subsumed by them.

Radical democracy, the commons and everyday struggles during the Greek crisis, 2023

Set against theoretical and strategic debates about theories of radical democracy, left populism ... more Set against theoretical and strategic debates about theories of radical democracy, left populism and the commons, this article analyses and evaluates everyday struggles in Greek politics after the global financial crisis. It focusses on the cases of Vio.Me-the first workers' recuperated factory in Greece-and the Metropolitan Community Clinic at Helliniko, which is the largest social solidarity health clinic in Greece. Viewed from the perspective of commoning practices, the article identifies the logics that sustain the beliefs, values, infrastructures and institutions developed at an everyday grassroots level, finding traces of an incipient radical democratic ethos and rationality at work. The new initiatives highlight crucial and often neglected organisational, prefiguring and subjective prerequisites for radical democracy, while challenging elements of left populist political strategy. Our evolving perspective also problematises their political limitations and strategic dilemmas as they struggle to constitute a viable hegemonic alternative to neoliberal rationalities and governance.

Social Movement Studies Journal, 2019

This paper broadens and deepens the debates on the recent protests against austerity in Greece. T... more This paper broadens and deepens the debates on the recent protests against austerity in Greece. The paper begins by investigating how the global crisis is understood, embodied and contested through the participatory forms of collective action and political organization in Greece. Secondly, it highlights transformations in the political behaviors and lived experiences of the subjects who participated in the recent and on-going wave of anti-austerity mobilizations in Greece. Finally, it emphasizes the ‘(re-)politicization of everyday life’ through the commons, which is a process grounded in the establishment of novel and open spaces of solidarity and trans-local collective action within and beyond institutional and state solutions. Building on these considerations, it is argued that the recent forms of everyday collective action have played a crucial role in challenging the prevailing neoliberal crisis politics, while at the same time are raising key issues for progressive governments and other institutional agents.

Article in the Solidaires Magazine, 2019

Commençons par le début. VIOME S.A. a été fondé en 1982, en tant que liale du groupe Philkeram-Jh... more Commençons par le début. VIOME S.A. a été fondé en 1982, en tant que liale du groupe Philkeram-Jhnston S.A. Implantée dans la périphérie de Thessalonique, en Grèce du nord, l'usine fabrique des produits chimiques pour le secteur industriel. A cause de la récession économique générale et d'une administration défaillante, la maisonmère t faillite en 2011, abandonnant l'usine VIOME à son propre sort. La seule chose que les propriétaires laissèrent derrière eux fut d'énormes dettes qui comprenaient, bien évidemment, les salaires impayés. Déséspéré.es, et devant la perspective du chômage, les employé.es de VIOME, organisé.es syndicalement depuis 2006, décidèrent collectivement d'occuper les locaux et d'appeler à la solidarité. La raison initiale de cette occupation, au-delà de son importance en tant que moyen de luttes et du symbole, était de s'assurer que le stock et les machines restent dans l'usine, empêchant ainsi les propriétaires de tout liquider.   ACCUEIL THÈMES  DOSSIERS  NUMÉROS  QUI SOMMES-NOUS? BOUTIQUE 9/4/2019 VIOME à Thessalonique -Les Utopiques www.lesutopiques.org/viome-a-thessalonique/ 2/7 LES DÉBUTS DE LA COOPÉRATIVE DE VIOME Un an et demi plus tard, en 2013, avec l'aide d'un grand mouvement de solidarité, les employé.es de VIOME tentèrent un grand pas en avant : se charger eux-mêmes de la production ! Ils et elles mirent en place une coopérative a n d'avoir un statut légal, et l'engrenage de la lutte se mit en marche. Depuis ce moment, au lieu de générer d'énormes pro ts pour les patrons par l'exploitation des travailleurs et travailleuses, l'usine devint, pour les membres de la coopérative, un ← Un salariat sans subordination ? Coopcycle : Une plateforme coopérative → Mentions légales  

Online article in the New Pretender, 2018

Kostis Roussos, Vaggelis Vragoteris and Haris Malamidis write about a new paradigm of working in ... more Kostis Roussos, Vaggelis Vragoteris and Haris Malamidis write about a new paradigm of working in common: the case of VIOME, a factory in the outskirts of Thessaloniki. They explain how “due to the general economic recession and the mall administration, the parent company went bankrupted in 2011, abandoning the plant of VIOME on its own faith. […] In 2013, together with a great movement in solidarity to the workers’ struggle, the workers of VIOME endeavored a big step: to take the production on their hands!”

Online Article published in the New Pretender, 2018

Online Article published in the New Pretender, 2018

One lazy afternoon in the week between Christmas and the New Year's day -one of those days that t... more One lazy afternoon in the week between Christmas and the New Year's day -one of those days that time doesn't really exist -I caught myself reading an essay about the role of the state in politics as it follows from Machiavelli's and Hobbes' skepticism on human nature. In short, both thinkers seem to agree that humans are by nature selfish, greedy, deceptive and untrustworthy, so any form of political order, if it aspires to consolidate itself, has to deal with these issues in a rather sovereign way. The same old story however, wasn't enough to change the mood of the day. Suddenly, as I was scrolling through the text, I came across a reference; Garret Hardin and his Tragedy of the

Media Articles by Kostis Roussos

Media article in The New Pretender (republished by Brave New Europe), 2018

Journal of Language and Politics

Logics of Critical Explanation proposed a methodological approach that could render the insights ... more Logics of Critical Explanation proposed a methodological approach that could render the insights of Poststructuralist Discourse Theory (PDT) and post-Marxist political theory more conducive to critical empirical research. It also offered a language with which to counter positivist tendencies to colonize the space of methods and research strategies, showing how PDT could facilitate both explanatory and critical endeavours. Since its publication in 2007, a number of studies have applied the logics framework to empirical cases, while critically engaging with its methodological and theoretical arguments. The main purpose of this article is to evaluate some of these developments, and to set out some future challenges faced by this research programme.

Social Movement Studies, 2019

This paper broadens and deepens the debates on the recent protests against austerity in Greece. T... more This paper broadens and deepens the debates on the recent protests against austerity in Greece. The paper begins by investigating how the global crisis is understood, embodied and contested through the participatory forms of collective action and political organization in Greece. Secondly, it highlights transformations in the political behaviors and lived experiences of the subjects who participated in the recent and ongoing wave of antiausterity mobilizations in Greece. Finally, it emphasizes the '(re-) politicization of everyday life' through the commons, which is a process grounded in the establishment of novel and open spaces of solidarity and trans-local collective action within and beyond institutional and state solutions. Building on these considerations, it is argued that the recent forms of everyday collective action have played a crucial role in challenging the prevailing neoliberal crisis politics, while at the same time are raising key issues for progressive governments and other institutional agents.

Logics, discourse theory and methods Advances, challenges and ways forward, 2021

Logics of Critical Explanation proposed a methodological approach that could render the insights ... more Logics of Critical Explanation proposed a methodological approach that could render the insights of Poststructuralist Discourse Theory (PDT) and post-Marxist political theory more conducive to critical empirical research. It also offered a language with which to counter positivist tendencies to colonize the space of methods and research strategies, showing how PDT could facilitate both explanatory and critical endeavours. Since its publication in 2007, a number of studies have applied the logics framework to empirical cases, while critically engaging with its methodological and theoretical arguments. The main purpose of this article is to evaluate some of these developments, and to set out some future challenges faced by this research programme.

Both social movement research and the literature on the commons provide rich accounts of the anti... more Both social movement research and the literature on the commons provide rich accounts of the anti-austerity mobilizations and uprisings in southern Europe. Movement studies offer important insights regarding the context of mobilization and collective claim making. The commons literature emphasizes bottom-up practices of shared ownership, self-management, and social co-production that move beyond institutional solutions. Although both literatures highlight similar phenomena, they remain relatively unconnected. Their distance precludes a full grasp of the implications regarding the dynamic and abundant to-and-fro movement between protestbased politics and everyday forms of collective action in this region, which is heavily affected by the crisis' austerity management. Drawing on the South European context, this article rethinks key concepts addressed in both literatures (social movements-commons, activistscommoners, mobilization-commoning) and highlights how a conceptual synthesis can sharpen and (re)politicize the theorization of contemporary collective action in the everyday.

Paradoxes in the Management of Timebanks in the UK's Voluntary Sector: Discursive Bricolage and its Limits, 2023

This paper contributes to our understanding of volunteer management by charting some important ch... more This paper contributes to our understanding of volunteer management by charting some important challenges associated with the governance of one of the UK's largest timebanking networks. While timebanking is often treated as a form of volunteering, many timebank advocates are keen to distinguish it sharply from traditional volunteering. We suggest that this tension generates a fundamental 'performance paradox' in the management of timebanks in the voluntary sector. We draw on political discourse theory to characterise and evaluate associated challenges, suggesting that, when viewed against a host of context-specific organisational and policy pressures, the progressive potential of timebanking cannot be realised as a distinct community economy without adequate support. Instead of taking up a position alongside more traditional forms of volunteering, timebanking is more likely to be subsumed by them.

Radical democracy, the commons and everyday struggles during the Greek crisis, 2023

Set against theoretical and strategic debates about theories of radical democracy, left populism ... more Set against theoretical and strategic debates about theories of radical democracy, left populism and the commons, this article analyses and evaluates everyday struggles in Greek politics after the global financial crisis. It focusses on the cases of Vio.Me-the first workers' recuperated factory in Greece-and the Metropolitan Community Clinic at Helliniko, which is the largest social solidarity health clinic in Greece. Viewed from the perspective of commoning practices, the article identifies the logics that sustain the beliefs, values, infrastructures and institutions developed at an everyday grassroots level, finding traces of an incipient radical democratic ethos and rationality at work. The new initiatives highlight crucial and often neglected organisational, prefiguring and subjective prerequisites for radical democracy, while challenging elements of left populist political strategy. Our evolving perspective also problematises their political limitations and strategic dilemmas as they struggle to constitute a viable hegemonic alternative to neoliberal rationalities and governance.

Social Movement Studies Journal, 2019

This paper broadens and deepens the debates on the recent protests against austerity in Greece. T... more This paper broadens and deepens the debates on the recent protests against austerity in Greece. The paper begins by investigating how the global crisis is understood, embodied and contested through the participatory forms of collective action and political organization in Greece. Secondly, it highlights transformations in the political behaviors and lived experiences of the subjects who participated in the recent and on-going wave of anti-austerity mobilizations in Greece. Finally, it emphasizes the ‘(re-)politicization of everyday life’ through the commons, which is a process grounded in the establishment of novel and open spaces of solidarity and trans-local collective action within and beyond institutional and state solutions. Building on these considerations, it is argued that the recent forms of everyday collective action have played a crucial role in challenging the prevailing neoliberal crisis politics, while at the same time are raising key issues for progressive governments and other institutional agents.

Article in the Solidaires Magazine, 2019

Commençons par le début. VIOME S.A. a été fondé en 1982, en tant que liale du groupe Philkeram-Jh... more Commençons par le début. VIOME S.A. a été fondé en 1982, en tant que liale du groupe Philkeram-Jhnston S.A. Implantée dans la périphérie de Thessalonique, en Grèce du nord, l'usine fabrique des produits chimiques pour le secteur industriel. A cause de la récession économique générale et d'une administration défaillante, la maisonmère t faillite en 2011, abandonnant l'usine VIOME à son propre sort. La seule chose que les propriétaires laissèrent derrière eux fut d'énormes dettes qui comprenaient, bien évidemment, les salaires impayés. Déséspéré.es, et devant la perspective du chômage, les employé.es de VIOME, organisé.es syndicalement depuis 2006, décidèrent collectivement d'occuper les locaux et d'appeler à la solidarité. La raison initiale de cette occupation, au-delà de son importance en tant que moyen de luttes et du symbole, était de s'assurer que le stock et les machines restent dans l'usine, empêchant ainsi les propriétaires de tout liquider.   ACCUEIL THÈMES  DOSSIERS  NUMÉROS  QUI SOMMES-NOUS? BOUTIQUE 9/4/2019 VIOME à Thessalonique -Les Utopiques www.lesutopiques.org/viome-a-thessalonique/ 2/7 LES DÉBUTS DE LA COOPÉRATIVE DE VIOME Un an et demi plus tard, en 2013, avec l'aide d'un grand mouvement de solidarité, les employé.es de VIOME tentèrent un grand pas en avant : se charger eux-mêmes de la production ! Ils et elles mirent en place une coopérative a n d'avoir un statut légal, et l'engrenage de la lutte se mit en marche. Depuis ce moment, au lieu de générer d'énormes pro ts pour les patrons par l'exploitation des travailleurs et travailleuses, l'usine devint, pour les membres de la coopérative, un ← Un salariat sans subordination ? Coopcycle : Une plateforme coopérative → Mentions légales  

Online article in the New Pretender, 2018

Kostis Roussos, Vaggelis Vragoteris and Haris Malamidis write about a new paradigm of working in ... more Kostis Roussos, Vaggelis Vragoteris and Haris Malamidis write about a new paradigm of working in common: the case of VIOME, a factory in the outskirts of Thessaloniki. They explain how “due to the general economic recession and the mall administration, the parent company went bankrupted in 2011, abandoning the plant of VIOME on its own faith. […] In 2013, together with a great movement in solidarity to the workers’ struggle, the workers of VIOME endeavored a big step: to take the production on their hands!”

Online Article published in the New Pretender, 2018

Online Article published in the New Pretender, 2018

One lazy afternoon in the week between Christmas and the New Year's day -one of those days that t... more One lazy afternoon in the week between Christmas and the New Year's day -one of those days that time doesn't really exist -I caught myself reading an essay about the role of the state in politics as it follows from Machiavelli's and Hobbes' skepticism on human nature. In short, both thinkers seem to agree that humans are by nature selfish, greedy, deceptive and untrustworthy, so any form of political order, if it aspires to consolidate itself, has to deal with these issues in a rather sovereign way. The same old story however, wasn't enough to change the mood of the day. Suddenly, as I was scrolling through the text, I came across a reference; Garret Hardin and his Tragedy of the