Syriza Wave: Surging and Crashing with the Greek Left

by Helena Sheehan

Utterly corrupt corporate and government elites bankrupted Greece twice over. First, by profligate deficit spending benefitting only themselves; second, by agreeing to an IMF “bailout” of the Greek economy, devastating ordinary Greek citizens who were already enduring government-induced poverty, unemployment, and hunger. Finally, in response to dire “austerity” measures, the people of Greece stood up, forming, from their own historic roots of resistance, Syriza—the Coalition of the Radical Left. For those who caught the Syriza wave, there was, writes Helena Sheehan, a minute of “precarious hope.”

A seasoned activist and participant-observer, Helena Sheehan adroitly places us at the center of the whirlwind beginnings of Syriza, its jubilant victory at the polls, and finally at Syriza’s surrender to the very austerity measures it once vowed to annihilate. Along the way, she takes time to meet many Greeks in tavernas, on the street, and in government offices, engage in debates, and compare Greece to her own economically blighted country, Ireland. Beginning as a strong Syriza supporter, Sheehan sees Syriza transformed from a horizon of hope to a vortex of despair. But out of the dust of defeat, she draws questions radiating hope. Just how did what was possibly the most intelligent, effective instrument of the Greek left self-destruct? And what are the consequences for the Greek people, for the international left, for all of us driven to work for a better world? The Syriza Wave is a page-turning blend of political reportage, personal reflection, and astute analysis.

Genres: Politics

272 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2017

About the author

Professor Helena Sheehan is an academic philosopher, historian of science, and writer on communication studies, politics, and philosophical (particularly Marxist) subjects. Sheehan is a retired (Professor Emeritus) Communications lecturer at Dublin City University and has been a visiting professor at the University of Cape Town.

Born in the United States, Sheehan describes her childhood as Catholic and conservative, Sheehan began studies her university and taught primary school as a nun. As a result of studying, she became an agnostic and liberal, then later an atheist and radical. She then left the convent. Sheehan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1967 from St. Joseph's University (then known as St. Joseph's College) in Philadelphia, followed by an MA in 1970 from Temple University in Philadelphia. She earned a PhD in 1980 from Trinity College (Dublin) in philosophy – then already active in the Trinity College Dublin Communist Society.

As an historian of science, Sheehan develops the view that Marx and Engels shared fundamentally the same view on the philosophy of science. A Marxist humanist, Sheehan has written critically of Lysenkoism and Stalin's impact on scientific development.

Sheehan has lectured at the Humanist Association of Ireland.

In her personal life, Sheehan is the partner of the trade unionist Sam Nolan.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is an aggressively mediocre travel diary dressed up as something about Syriza. If you want a n interesting narrative about Syriza with useful analysis with explanations about the social forces and class structure at play, then I recommend you read Kevin Overden's Syriza: Inside the Labyrinth. If you want to read some vacuous introspection and gratuitous name dropping exceptionally light on analysis, then you should probably read this...book.

The book is a waste of time. What was frustrating about it most was that there were brief glimpses of potential analysis that could have been really interesting. And when I say brief, I mean it could have be included, verbatim and with additional material added, on 4 pages. The book is 229 pages long.

The self-congratulatory introspection is typified by the following passage:

"As I made my way down Panepistimiou, I stopped at a newstand and bought the paper...The Road Left, where I found an entire page devoted to my book. A journalist had asked my for an excerpt, but I wasn't expecting a whole page on it, including a photo of me introducing Alexis Tsipras at DCU in 2014." (p. 212)

Quite why anyone should care about this particular detail is beyond me, and what it contributes to the story of Syriza and the analysis of what it did is elusive at its politest. This is one of the offenders, but by no means the last. Often conversations and thoughts are expressed in 'and I continued this reflection' or 'the discussion continued in a taverna, where we all shared our thoughts, along with many dishes of amazing food and jugs of wine (p. 116).' No substance is added and the thoughts and conversations remain unelaborated and therefore uninteresting, egotistic and vacuous. It's all well and good for the author to be able to think...it escapes me why I should care unless those thoughts are shared and some kind of stimulating analysis occurs.

Another of the more egregious faults are the constant name dropping. Costas Lapavitsas is mentioned a few times, and Stathis Kouvelakis is named on more than one occasion. Lapavitsas is mentioned in full name at every instance, lest we forget that the author knows this person (!) and has a close connection; Kouvelakis is referred to as 'Stathis' to really emphasise that the author shares a personal connection with him (!!!!)...

Multiple names are mentioned, from both sides, and conversations are mentioned to have occurred, although rarely - if at all - elaborated on for their contents. Anything stimulating enough with Tsipras, major ministers, Left Platform personalities or anything like that would surely provide insight into the Greek crisis and the politics therein...god forbid the reader be allowed those insights and the author's vacuous and self-congratulatory introspection come to a halt. All that the reader needs to know is that author is well connected, critical of both sides of Syriza (intimated a number of times without any reasons supplied), and having conversations with these people and "in the know". It strikes me as out of touch, as well as hopelessly useless to anyone trying to gain insights into the crisis.

Of note is the same situation with Greek citizens. A number of times conversations with regular Greeks are mentioned; no times are those conversations elaborated on. It would be quite insightful for the voices of regular Greeks to be laid in black and white in a book. It seems to me that a Marxist would want the voices of workers in the struggle to be articulated, heard directly and analysed in some way as a totality. The author quite clearly disagrees; it is enough for the dear reader to know the author has heard these conversations, and that the reader know that they provided insights into the crisis. The reader doesn't need to know what they were, they need only accept that the author knows, has an idea, and is well connected in the crisis.

Similarly, it is mentioned that the author has these conversations at political rallies and events. We know they attend, and that they show "solidarity" with Greek workers and the Greek Left. But we get scarce detail, little explication of the events and how and why things happen. There is no narrative of the social forces at play, and no analytical framework to explore the relationship of class struggle to austerity in the Greek situation. It reminds me of a Great Moments in Leftism cartoon where a sign is raised saying "I'm in the class struggle!". The author is indeed "in the class struggle" and the reader is made sure to know...and the reader is left wondering how much substance that participation has and how much of it is performative.

Which brings me a last point. The book has tinges of Marxist rhetoric and language. It drops expropriation, mode of production and all the usual monikers and pretty flourishes. It does so without purpose, and does so for no reason. It is quite clear that this Marxist knows how to speak Marxism, but without any narrative or analytical edge its really more for show; empty and vacuous signifiers for an out of touch academic to display their credentials.

There is little of substance in this book. It's not worth the time, and frankly it escapes me why it was published by an otherwise robust publishing house. Don't read it. Ignore it. It's not worth the paper it's printed on.

[Rhys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sheehan offers a diary of the years after the global recession with the election of Syriza with the citizen mandate to oppose the expropriation of state assets and the institution of austerity measures. She then documents the failure to do so and the subsequent international effects on left-governments in Europe.

The writing form may have made the story more personal and readable, considering the number of actors in this drama. On the other hand, the book lacked the detailed analysis that a more academic approach might have offered.

Overall, there is a lot to learn from this event and this book is a modest contribution: "He perceived a naïve approach to how easily structures could be changed, an apolitical blurring of right and left, a leader-centered effort without any serious representative structure inside the initiative, in fact, a super-elitist gathering without any social grounding, without a counterhegemonic project, without an institution to enable the initiative to endure" (p.201).

[Federico Giovannini · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is basically a personal diary, interesting at some points but it is neither a systemic analysis of, nor a critical guide to the process that brought Syriza to rise and fall.
It gives you an insight into how some Marxist academics live and interact with political and institutional events. It has a literary vibe which makes for an bio-emotional journey.

[Pete Dolack · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many put their puts hopes into Syriza; so many were bitterly disappointed. Greece’s Coalition of the Radical Left proved wholly unable to resist the enormous pressures put on it and it is Greek working people who are paying the price, not excepting those who voted for Syriza.

How should we analyze the depressing spectacle of what had been a genuinely Left party, indeed a coalition of leftist forces from a variety of socialist perspectives, self-destructing so rapidly? The simplistic response would be to wash our hands and condemn Syriza as “opportunists,” but we’ll learn exactly nothing with such an attitude. If we are serious about analyzing Syriza’s spectacular failure — including those who expected this outcome in advance — digging through the rubble is unavoidable.

The prologue to this failure is well known, but Professor Sheehan takes us through it in a “you are there” style reflecting what was happening then and her own optimism. That we know how this story will end does not detract from this writing style; rather it heightens the emotions as we re-live what at the time appeared to be the imminent first serious blow against global austerity and the ever tightening grip of finance capital. This was not a pollyannaish optimism, for no one serious had doubts about the immense task facing Syriza should it be elected. Certainly Greece could not be a small socialist island in an immense sea of capitalism — Greece’s problems then and now can have only European and international solutions.

The Syriza Wave is a most useful study of Syriza and in particular the range of platforms and outlooks, and the evolution of these, as the party prepared to take power and then found itself unable to manage, let alone solve, internal and external contradictions. That this is a “you are there” document from a personalized standpoint does not at all mean that the book is anything other than a serious political analysis.

Professor Sheehan, despite the appropriately bitter denouncements of the party’s performance in office in contrast to her earlier support, ends on an optimistic note. We are, after all, supposed to learn from defeat so we can do it better in the future, yes?

[Panos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads more like a travel log of shorts, a badly edited collection of notes, with little analysis overall and lots of repetitions.

What shines through the narrative is the author's progressive disillusionment with Syriza and as a critical supporter of Syriza myself i certainly can sympathize with such feelings but from an author of such leftist caliber, i expected more.

What one can gain from reading this book i guess is some inspiration, Helena Sheehan has the moral courage, in the very end, despite the shuttered dreams and betrayed hopes, to call a spade a spade, and hold the Syriza leadership accountable for its misgivings, failures, opportunism and betrayals.

In all honesty I think many Syriza supporters, myself included, haven’t fully recovered from the traumatic experience of the summer of 2015 and Sheehan’s intellectual honesty can be that badly needed beacon for anyone looking for a new, leftist, direction in politics. However we might excuse what Alexis Tsipras did and however worst a rightwing government could be we should judge Syriza today, recalling Marx, not by what the party thinks of itself but by what it is doing and even worst by what it has accomplished. Not only Syriza is implementing, with asterisks here and there true but they are not enough im afraid, the third memorandum, but Syrizas' defeat has collapsed whatever resistance and hope was left in many Greeks for an alternative progressive future.

When Tsipras himself declares that there is no alternative we should always remember that he helped make it so too. Sheehan's contribution is that she wont let us forget.