Golden Dawn: From the Margins of Greece to the Forefront of Europe

Since 2009 Greece has acquired a seminal position in the ongoing discussion on the future of the common European project. The Greek crisis became a commonplace theme and generated considerable public and scholarly analysis that focused on the transformative powers of financial instability and the multiple ways it intertwined with social, political, and cultural changes. Nonetheless, the crisis label has o ft en led to a misguided perception of Greek realities: focusing exclusively on the cataclysmic post-2009 developments it blurs the importance of historical legacies and preexisting conditions. The case of Golden Dawn offers an indicative example of this tendency.