Emerald logo
Advanced search

Administering solidarity: grassroots welfare in post-debt crisis Greece

Russell Henshaw (University of Oxford, Oxford, UK)

Journal of Organizational Ethnography

ISSN: 2046-6749

Publication date: 1 April 2019

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine what happens as the state relinquishes welfare provision to volunteers. Attending to the ethnographic reality of such practices, to the collection, storage, allocation, and distribution of assistance, it explores how the impetus to address poverty is transformed through the process of administering it.

Design/methodology/approach

Research was based on one year of ethnographic fieldwork volunteering at a solidarity organization in Athens.

Findings

Administering solidarity, volunteers were confronted with practical, logistic problems. Attempting to resolve these, they resorted to technical, administrative devices. Yet through these efforts, the volunteers systematized not only their activities, but also their view of rights themselves. Solidarity ethics were subtly transformed into values of fairness, efficiency, and impartiality. As a result, the help they offered became impersonal and material, omitting the political dimensions of their work.

Originality/value

This paper applies insights from ethnographies of humanitarian organization that emphasize the material, embodied qualities of moral labour. Doing so, it illustrates how seemingly benign practices, such as administration, have fundamentally ethical qualities.

Keywords

  • Greece
  • Welfare
  • Administration
  • Austerity
  • Solidarity
  • Grassroots

Citation

Henshaw, R. (2019), "Administering solidarity: grassroots welfare in post-debt crisis Greece", Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 42-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOE-03-2018-0016

Download as .RIS

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

Please note you might not have access to this content

You may be able to access this content by login via Shibboleth, Open Athens or with your Emerald account.
Login
To rent this content from Deepdyve, please click the button.
Rent from Deepdyve
If you would like to contact us about accessing this content, click the button and fill out the form.
Contact us
Emerald Publishing
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
  • Opens in new window
© 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

Services

  • Authors Opens in new window
  • Editors Opens in new window
  • Librarians Opens in new window
  • Researchers Opens in new window
  • Reviewers Opens in new window

About

  • About Emerald Opens in new window
  • Working for Emerald Opens in new window
  • Contact us Opens in new window
  • Publication Sitemap

Policies and information

  • Legal Opens in new window
  • Editorial policy Opens in new window & originality guidelines Opens in new window
  • Site policies
  • Modern Slavery Act Opens in new window

We’re listening — tell us what you think

  • Something didn’t work…

    Report bugs here

  • All feedback is valuable

    Please share your general feedback

  • Member of Emerald’s Library Advisory Network?

    You can start or join in a discussion here.
    If you’d like to know more about The Network, please email us

Join us on our journey

  • Platform update page

    Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates

  • Frequently Asked Questions

    Your questions answered here