Everyone who has followed Mr. Tsipras’ path and the evolution of the party he leads and which governs the country today, will be aware that at the basis of their politics is the dispute of the dominant perception in the world about the economy, the operation of the markets and especially the speculation in the global credit markets, which set the tone in international finances and the cycle of profound income inequalities.
SYRIZA and its leader have been brought up and defined by the specific dispute.
At first, when they were around 4%, they were a colorful international movement against globalization and later, after the credit crisis of 2009, they were influenced by the many modernist versions, such as the American movement against Wall Street.
In the five-year financial crisis in Greece, Mr. Tsipras and SYRIZA took advantage of the anti-bailout trend of the Indignados in Greece and over time they managed to express them to a great degree.
Despite being more conservative, over time SYRIZA adopted an unconventional stance and antisystemic rhetoric, drawing arguments and ideas from the extended circles of American and left thought.
Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, Naomi Klein, Thomas Piketty and other further on left denounced the economic and political elites and enriched SYRIZA’s arguments, thus allowing it to expand its influence on Greek society.
That is how during the crisis and at time when the older systemic powers were struggling, SYRIZA managed to overcome the marginalization of single-digit rates and was seeking to claim power two and a half years ago.
With the management of the crisis becoming increasingly problematic, Mr. Tsipras and his power rose to power. At the same time that SYRIZA rose, other related and equally marginalized – until recently – parties all over Europe developed.
Over time, serious doubts emerged In Italy, Spain, Ireland and elsewhere, which rallied against the dominant for the past two decades neoliberal model of open and unregulated markets.
The dispute towards the dominant political class in Europe and the whole world is now considerable and is expressed not just in politics, but also in the arts, culture and ideas.
The policies stemming from the global economic centers are now facing considerable reactions and one can say that they are difficult to defend. More so when every so often scandals concerning huge sums of money from tax evasion and tax avoidance emerge, which anger people all over the world.
Up to now, this multinational wave of dispute remained outside of the governing “box”.
Mr. Tsipras is the first politician who as Prime Minister of a Eurozone country, who is representing the once-marginalized wave, which is now becoming more prominent all over Europe.
That is why it is facing such reactions and resistance.
The European democratic ideal however, the culture and the principles of the European foundation do not allow exclusions.
The dominant political and economic class has not other choice by to integrate Mr. Tsipras and by extension Greece into the European political and financial procedures.
That is why beyond the technical details, the current negotiation will result in a compromise.
The new, until-recently marginalized, European Left will enter the “box”, will participate in the procedures of the European governance and will most likely influence matters in the Old Continent, with its strength, ideas and priorities.
Antonis Karakousis
