Addady, M. (2016). Here's How Much Less Europeans Care About Diversity Than Americans.

Fortune.

 

This article examines a Pew survey that asked various countries in Europe and the United States if “Do you think having an increasing number of people of many different races, ethnic groups, and nationalities in our country makes it a better place to live, a worse place to live, or doesn't make much difference either way?” It found that Europeans were significantly less likely to think diversity was a positive thing, usually opting for it not making a difference, but found that Greeks and Italians were more likely to respond negatively than any other answer. It attributed this to the fact that those two nations have been bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis. I think the question is not worded as well as it could be, but I think the article is useful as it reveals a strong distinction in how important racial and ethnic diversity is less important to most europeans and in the past Greeks. This suggests to me that there is perhaps a difference in how we define diversity, how we view it, and how heavily it weighs in our national debate.

 

Bahcheli, T., & Noel, S. (n.d.). Chapter 10. Ties That No Longer Bind: Greece, Turkey, and the

Fading Allure of Ethnic Kinship in Cyprus. Divided Nations and European Integration.

doi:10.9783/9780812208276.313

 

This chapter provides a history of the relationship between Greek and Turkish inhabitants of Cyprus and the conflicts between their homelands over them. This source does not provide any particular or unique insight into the relationship between Greeks and Turks that other sources provide, but I think it is important to understand the history involved in the relationships between these two to fully understand their modern relationship. Further I think it is impossible to deny the importance of Greece’s Turkish minority and its own minority inside of Turkey when discussing how Greeks have historically and presently engage with diversity.

 

Benincasa, L. (2018). The school parade as a text: The management of diversity on national

commemorations in Greece. Ethnography and Education, 14(2), 170-191. doi:10.1080/17457823.2018.1434732

 

This article treats parades meant to celebrate greek history as a text to examine “value hierarchies.” It points out two criteria that the government uses to select participants and identifies them as “dimensions of diversity”: tallness and achievement. To an American treating either of these things as a dimension of diversity seems absurd. However, it is enshrined in Greek law as a means of selecting students for these parades which certainly means something. It provides an interesting, if a bit odd, angle from which to examine Greece’s idea of diversity.

 

Figgou, L. (2018). Multiculturalism, immigrants’ integration, and citizenship: Their ambiguous

relations in educators’ discourse in Greece. Qualitative Psychology, 5(1), 117-134.

doi:10.1037/qup0000080

 

This article investigates the meaning of diversity and citizenship from the perspective of immigrants in Greece rather than form the Greek perspective. It focuses on how the children of these immigrants’ children experience citizenship in schools. The article provides an insight to how immigrant children’s teachers interact with multiculturalism and how it affects these student’s identities. It provides a look into whether Greece is encouraging integration or embracing the differences of their immigrants.

 

Partasi, E. (2011). Experiencing multiculturalism in Greek‐Cypriot primary schools. Compare: A

Journal of Comparative and International Education, 41(3), 371-386. doi:10.1080/03057925.2010.542035

 

This article explores what is perhaps most diverse part of “Greece.” While Greece has an increasingly large number of muslims and non-Greeks, it is still a far more religiously and culturally uniform country than many countries including the US, with 90% of its residents being Greek. Cyprus is an independent country that was historically Greek, but now has a significant Turkish population. The article explores the recent introduction of the idea of multiculturalism to the island nation’s schools and how it has affected their definition of diversity.

 

Parthenis, C., & Fragoulis, G. (2016). “Otherness” as Threat: Social and Educational Exclusion

of Roma People in Greece. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 18(2), 39.

doi:10.18251/ijme.v18i2.1132

 

This article looks at a seemingly less talked about group in Greece, the Roma people. It examines case studies of Roma communities near Athens who live in extremely impoverished conditions. It argues that Greece has a very bad record with inclusion and handling of diversity saying that certain groups are made to be the “others” and painted as a threat to Greek society. This source is interesting because it takes a much less forgiving or kind stance towards Greece’s history and its present than many of the other sources I have come across.

 

Miltiadias, S., & Grigoris, Z. (2015). Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Dialogue in

Human Resources Management in the Banking Sector in Greece: A Case Study of Elder

Bank Employees. South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, 13(2), 133-156.

 

This article examines the concept of social responsibility placed on corporation in greece, specifically on banks. The article proposed a system for improving the way banks provide aid to ageing employees and retirees. The specifics of the this plan are not of particular interest to my examination of diversity in Greece, but the emphasize on elders is. This article reveals a facet of a Greek understanding of diversity, age. This is something not often spoken of in the US as a facet of diversity, but Greece and many other European countries are struggling to care for an increasingly older population especially during the financial crisis that hit Greece recently.

 

Reeves, M. (2016). Borders, biopolitics, and spaces of refusal. Journal of the Royal

Anthropological Institute, 22(3), 717-721. doi:10.1111/1467-9655.12456

 

This source is interested in how borders affect the culture, economy, and practices of people within countries, focusing not on those living in border regions but those who man the border. It looks at the people who work at airports, border checkpoints, and the natural terrain that transcends natural borders (forests, mountains, seas, etc.). It provides an interesting insight into the people who work most closely with the means of entry to a nation and have a direct hand in shaping the definition of diversity. It is particularly relevant to a study of Greece as one of the main focuses is the people who worked on the Greco-Turkish border through the historically troubled relationship that the border has caused including the population exchanges and competing claims.

 

Sapountzis, A., & Papanikolaou, M. (2017). Multiculturalism and cultural diversity in discourse:

Kindergarten and primary school teachers talk about the muslim minority in thrace,

Greece. Hellenic Journal of Psychology, 14(3), 280-298.

 

This article examines the ongoing discourse in Greek schools with regards to diversity, what it means, and how it should be approached in schools and in the law. This discourse revolves around the growing Muslim minority in the country that exists especially in Western Thrace in the north of the country. It mentions two major approaches: multiculturalism and color-blindedness. The most interesting thing about the article is how Greeks react to the framing of the diversity question. According to the article they react in favor of multiculturalism when it is framed as a diversity of religion question, but promote color-blindedness when it is framed as a question of ethnicity. What is interesting to me about this is that those are not two categories that often overlap in Greece. Greeks are overwhelmingly christian while other ethnic groups like Turks or Arabs are overwhelmingly Muslim. In light of this it is interesting that Greeks would want to celebrate religious differences while playing down ethnic ones.

 

Vionis, A. K. (2018). Sacred Townscapes in Late Antique Greece: Christianisation and

Economic Diversity in the Aegean. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 30(2), 141-165. doi:10.1558/jmea.35403

 

This article explores diversity in “Greece” during the Late Antiquity period. At the time Greece was the center of the Roman empire and Greek culture and language permeated the nations elite. The article provides an insight into Greece’s history with diversity and provides insight on how that history affects the modern nation. The empire ruled over a tremendously diverse region in which people of Greek culture intermingled with countless other groups especially in urban areas. The article talks about the importance of Christianity in this exchange and its role in Greek culture.