Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria

by Kostas Karamarkos.
Date: Sunday 19/05/2013 at 3:00pm.
Location: The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale Street.
Entry: Free.

In Greece today, it is universally accepted that the current economic, social, cultural and political crisis of the country, marks the end of metapolitefsi, that is, the period of time that starts right after the downfall of the military junta in mid 1974 and runs up to the present. 

This almost 40 year long historical cycle, marks a period when Greece enjoyed political stability and the majority of Greeks enjoyed unprecedented political and social freedoms, as well as relative wealth.

So…  What went wrong? 

Why did Greece end up in intensive care? 

Is there a way out of this multiple crisis? 

Which competing forces and how are trying to “re-launch” the country in the 21^st century?  Can they succeed? 

The presenter of the seminar attempts to answer these questions, by critically and briefly over viewing the metapolitefsi period, where most of the problems were created and where most of the “new” answers can be traced.

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Biography

Kostas Karamarkos was born in Kozani, northern Greece, and migrated to Australia in 1981 as a teenager.

A graduate of the University of Melbourne where he majored in the History and Philosophy of Science, Kostas spent more than a decade involved with community radio where he worked at 3ZZZ Ethnic Radio both as an administrator and broadcaster. He was also involved with the Australian Labor Party and the Antipodes Festival.

Since 1998 he has been a resident of Greece alternating between Athens and Thessaloniki. He was a columnist for the Thessaloniki dailies ‘’Makedonia’’, ‘’Thessaloniki’’ and ‘’Aggelioforos’’ and a news editor for radio station 103FM in Thessaloniki.  He was an advisor in the Greek Secretariat for Greeks Abroad in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Most recently (2006-2012), he worked as a journalist in the Political Office of George Papandreou. He has been a regular contributor to political magazines, newspapers and sites such as ‘’ANTI’’, ‘’EPOHI’’ and ‘’ppol.gr’’. He also maintains a blog site (endeaneos.blogspot.com) where he provides commentary on a whole spectre of political, social, cultural and literary issues.

As a long time observer and regular commentator of both the Australian and Greek political scenes, and having worked at the highest levels of government, Kosta’s observations and insights on ‘the Greece that lost its way’ should be of interest to us all.