Anti-Fascism and Left Feminist Politics in Greece: An Enduring Legacy

In Greece, anti-fascist sentiment is deeply rooted in the country’s history of resistance against Nazi occupation, civil war, and successive military dictatorships. More recently, the rise of far-right groups like Golden Dawn, and the authoritarian shift in US politics has seen a resurgence in anti-fascist rhetoric and organisation. It’s reasonable to argue that progressive political movements in Greece, in all of their diversity, continue to find an important reference in the anti-fascist history of the country. This applies equally well to women’s and feminist movements, past and present, branches of which have clung to the leftist anti-fascist legacy, while others fought for an autonomous politics akin to Anglo-American feminisms. As in many countries, the anti-fascist template was set in Greece in the context of mass popular resistance to Nazi occupation, but its continuing resonance in Greek political culture is inextricably linked with social justice, and the long memory of institutionalised state violence and resistance to it.