Politicizing the Body in the Anti-Mining Protest in Greece

Abstract

Although organization and management scholars are beginning to research opposition and dissent emerging in response to the global financial crisis, there are few accounts or feminist analyses of social movements and women’s mobilizations as an important part of these movements. We address this gap by considering a case of women activists opposing extractivist mining in Chalkidiki, Greece, to demonstrate their crucial role in initiating and organizing resistance within their communities. Drawing theoretical inspiration from social reproduction theory and the literature on embodied protest as a form of political action, we argue that women use diverse means to promote the politics of visibility, erasing public and private distinctions as they defend their communities’ right to live in unpolluted environments. By way of contribution, we enhance understanding of the role of affective embodiment as a foundation for activist feminist practices; develop a theory of the protesting body altering spatial relations as a means to oppose the neoliberal assault on life and environment; and suggest how this might prefigure new political practices in the context of social movements. We identify the implications of this theorization and call for academics’ deeper sustained engagement in activism.