On a tightrope
Following the success of ‘Populism and Crisis in Greece’, Takis Pappas continues in his new book to delve into the historical past to investigate the causes and consequences of earlier crises that have shaken the country.
My paternal grandfather was born in 1875, my father in 1913 and I in 1960. If we could join hands to form a chain, the three of us alone would span almost a century and a half of modern Greek history. What would we talk about? Under what national circumstances did each of us live our lives? What kind of experiences would each generation have to offer, and what valuable knowledge would we realise has been forgotten over the years? And what, I wonder, would I, the penultimate link in the chain, gain from a conversation with my ancestors that I could pass on to my own children?
As history itself shows, in the past every emergence from a crisis was achieved through the political mediation of capable political leaders, who, often with foreign assistance, managed to create new, appropriate institutional environments for the autonomous development of the middle classes, primarily the social classes. So where do we stand today? To what extent do the conditions necessary for the country to emerge from this already protracted crisis exist?
- Pages: 260
- ISBN: 978-960-572-152-7
- Publication: 2017
- Dimensions: 14 x 21 εκ.
- Categories: Books, Humanities & Social Sciences, Οικονομία & Πολιτική
Takis Pappas was a guest on Manolis Andriotakis’s online show Garagebooks to mark the publication of his book _On a Tightrope_.
– GaragebooksInterview with Takis Pappas by Thodoris Antonopoulos of Lifo on the occasion of the publication of the book _On a Tightrope_.
– Lifo.gr"...The book is well-written, rich in historical detail, and above all offers a theory on how a country enters and emerges from a crisis..."
– Paschos Mandravelis, Kathimerini"A Leader is Needed!" A very interesting interview with Takis Pappas by Angeliki Birbili in Athens Voice, on the occasion of the publication of his two books _On a Tightrope_ & _Populism and Crisis in Greece_, two books that attempt to answer critical questions that concern us all.
– Athens VoiceTakis S. Pappas
Takis S. Pappas was born and raised in Elefsina. He graduated from the Law School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and served part of his military service in the so-called Gulf War. Following his studies in the United States (PhD, Yale), he pursued an academic career in Greece. In 2010, he settled with his family in France and eventually resigned from his post at the Greek university. He currently works as an author and visiting professor at the Central European University in Budapest. He also holds the title of docent at the University of Helsinki in Finland.
He has taught at the universities of Athens, Strasbourg, Oslo, Freiburg and Luxembourg. He has held research positions at Princeton University and the European University Institute in Florence, where he was a Marie Curie Fellow from 2011 to 2013. In addition to dozens of articles in leading international academic journals, she has authored the books *Making Party Democracy in Greece* (Palgrave Macmillan 1999), *The Charismatic Party: PASOK, Papandreou, Power* (Patakis 2009), Populism and Crisis Politics in Greece (Palgrave 2014), Populism and Crisis in Greece (Ikaros 2015), and has co-edited with H. Kriesi European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession (ECPR Press 2015). His next book, entitled Democratic Illiberalism: How Populism Grows to Menace Democracy, will be available shortly.
