Stratos Patrikios

Religion, securitization and anti-immigration attitudes: The case of Greece

This article revisits securitization theory of the Copenhagen School by addressing an empirical overemphasis on political actors and offering a quantitative extension to typically qualitative assessments of the theory. Using Greece as a case study, it explores the dynamics of competition and the relative discursive power of two actors, political and religious elites, regarding migration. After first documenting a divergence in the two actors’ rhetoric through discourse analysis, it proceeds to measure the relative impact of their discourses on public immigration attitudes, employing structural equation modelling of European Social Survey data. Findings demonstrate that exposure to the securitizing religious discourse through church attendance immunizes citizens from the softening effect of the political message. This, in turn, explains the survival of the security frame on migration in Greece, even as political elites begin to move towards the desecuritized pole of the continuum. Crucially, the analysis of this case suggests that a methodological synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research methods to study securitization is possible despite limitations. The authors call for greater efforts to combine the two methods which would allow for a better understanding of securitization and desecuritization processes.

Dynastic politics: family ties in the Greek Parliament, 2000-2012

Fluctuations in the presence of dynastic politicians in national legislatures are seen as an important indicator of political modernisation. Drawing on original biographical details of Greek Members of Parliament (MPs) from the six most recent parliamentary terms, we document the existence of a substantial and relatively stable pool of dynastic MPs. Their numbers only appear to shrink, albeit not too dramatically, in the 2012 elections, which also marked the collapse of the traditional party system. Findings highlight patterns of stability that have remained unnoticed under more visible shifts in party competition during the economic crisis.

Attitudes towards school choice and faith schools in the UK: a question of individual preference or collective interest?

As has been the case in a number of countries, parents in England have increasingly been given the opportunity to choose between different types of schools. Doing so is regarded as a way of meeting individual needs and improving academic standards. Faith-based schools long predate this move towards a more diversified educational system, but have come to be regarded as one of the ways of fulfilling the recent agenda. Drawing on social identity theory, we suggest that attitudes towards faith-based schools reflect social (religious) identities and group interests associated with those identities rather than beliefs about the merits of individual choice. We demonstrate this is the case using data from all four parts of the UK. However, the extent to which attitudes towards faith-based schools are a reflection of religious identities varies across the four parts in line with the structure of the religious economy and educational provision locally. We conclude that rather than reflecting a supposedly a-social concern with choice, support for diversity of educational provision may be rooted instead in collective – and potentially antagonistic - social identities.

Visual Primes and European Union Identity: Designing Experimental Research

There has been considerable attention paid to the role of symbols in forging identification with and support for the EU (Bruter, 2003, 2009; Laffan, 1996; Manners, 2011; Mclaren, 2006; Shore, 2000). Detailed empirical analysis is still, however, required of the following: the extent to which such symbols carry implicit messages about EU identity; the type of messages that different symbols convey; the effect that exposure to these symbols in different contexts might have on political preferences. The authors employed an experimental approach to establish the extent to which implicit visual reminders of EU membership, from images of ceremonial flags to more mundane, functional symbols (like passports and driving licences), prime particular — affective or instrumental — associations, and how these associations may shape EU-related attitudes.

Comparing Religious Messages in the Media and in the Congregation: A Greek Orthodox Case Study

Religious messages may be delivered to two kinds of audiences: the local congregation and, through the mass media, the general public. Do religious actors issue the same cues to both audiences? Existing research suggests that speakers change their message depending on the audience, especially if that audience is reached through the media. This calls for the direct comparison of religious communication in the local congregation and in the mass media. The study investigates the phenomenon by focusing on the political content of religious messages. Using information from Greek news coverage of religious discourse and from the direct observation of sermons in selected Greek Orthodox congregations, the results highlight the importance of the mass media in communicating the political concerns of religious actors. These concerns remain silenced in the local congregation. The conclusion discusses implications regarding the communication mechanisms that underlie the politicization of religion in the overlooked Orthodox context.

Book Review: Nadia Marzouki, Olivier Roy and Duncan McDonnell (eds), Saving the People: How Populists Hijack ReligionSaving the People: How Populists Hijack Religion by MarzoukiNadiaRoyOlivierMcDonnellDuncan (eds). London: C. Hurst & Co., 2016. 288pp., £22.50 (p/b), ISBN 9781849045162

The puzzle of why some authoritarian regimes don’t resort to violence when faced with largescale non-violent protests is at the heart of this book. Daniel Ritter argues that alliances between authoritarian regimes and democracies constrain the ability of the former to suppress mass uprisings, even where they threaten the existence of the regime. Central to the argument is the iron cage of liberalism (ICL), in which the regime, the opposition and external actors acknowledge the adoption of basic liberal practices, thereby locking in expectations that are exploited by non-violent opposition actors to challenge the regime. Examining the protests that brought down the Shah in Iran and recent regime changes in Egypt and Tunisia, Ritter draws a connection between their actions and reliance on Western patronage (particularly from the US). The framework brings together theories of revolution and civil resistance which enable the detailed historical analysis to be unpacked and the identification of key moments. The counter-examples of Iran (in 2009), Libya and Syria are introduced as regimes not constrained by the ICL and able to use force against non-violent opponents. The book presents a compelling argument regarding the emergence of non-violent revolutions. Combining structural (revolutions) approaches with agent-driven (civil resistance) approaches provides a framework with which to interpret such events. The cases on either side of the argument clearly align with the theory, demonstrating the utility of the ICL. Given the regional proximity of the countries impacted by the Arab Spring (Egypt, Libya, Syria and Tunisia), it would have been worth considering the possible regional diffusion effects. Additionally, extending the analysis to address the nature (democratic or authoritarian) of the post-revolutionary regime could illuminate the longer term significance of the ICL. The book concludes with reference to the weakening of liberal ideals internationally, making consideration of an iron cage of illiberalism possible, particularly as China and Russia emerge as ‘black knights’ supporting authoritarian values. Overall, this is a comprehensive and wellwritten study. It will be of interest to area specialists as well as those in the fields of revolutions and civil resistance. There is also scope for future work to test and build on the ICL theory in other regions to determine its broader applicability.

Religious Deprivatization in Modern Greece

Comparative surveys suggest that generational replacement has negative implications for the future of religion in Europe. Using Greece as a critical case, it is argued here that focusing only on the aggregate levels of personal commitment can lead to such exaggerated pessimism. This note shifts empirical attention to show how religious authority remains relevant in society despite declining trends in individual religiosity. Preliminary findings are based on a multi-dimensional definition of religious change, which includes the scope of church authority in the public sphere. European Values Study (EVS) data from 1999 suggest that societal modernisation is not a uniformly negative influence on religion, at least when the investigation moves beyond levels of individual commitment.