Exploring the Changes in Social Movements Repertoire in Times of Crisis: The Case of Social Solidarity Clinics and Pharmacies

The eruption of the economic crisis in Europe in 2008 was combined with the implementation of a series of austerity measures in the Southern European countries. Due to the inability to cover its large public deficit, Greece has experienced a plethora of public cuts and fiscal adjustment policies. Despite its economic implications, the crisis have changed the political and social setting in Greece, without leaving untouched the healthcare sector. In particular, the cuts in public spending had as a result the reduction of hospitals’ budget and blocked any recruitment of new personnel. Additionally, the exclusion of around 3 million of uninsured citizens from the public healthcare system between 2011 and 2016, concludes the devastating picture. Together with their European counterparts, the Greek social movements have inaugurated a long anti-austerity campaign. Nonetheless, as the welfare retrenchment was transforming into a stable situation, the ‘usual’ protest-oriented social movement repertoire of action was coupled with a more practical one, giving birth to new forms of solidarity structures, while at the same time existed social movement organizations present a shift towards service-oriented approach. Markets-without-middlemen, soup kitchens and workers’ collectives are just some examples of this repertoire with regards the sectors of food and occupation. Within this frame, Social Solidarity Clinics and Pharmacies (SSCPs) are autonomous, voluntary organizations which provide for free primary healthcare services to anyone in need, while at the same time take an anti-austerity stance. However, the close relationship of some SSCPs with political parties, municipal authorities, public hospitals and other institutional actors, blur the image regarding their role as informal forms of collective action. At the same time, the occupation of formal organizations with this repertoire as well the pre-figurative practices of social movements challenge this ‘innovative’ character and pose difficulties on its definition. Part of my PhD research, this Paper draws its attention to the case of SSCPs. By applying qualitative semi-structured interviews and participant observation in 11 SSCPs in Athens, Thessaloniki and Rethimno, this inquiry offers empirical insights regarding the organizational structure, resources, strategies and dynamics that that have emerged within and among them. By applying the framework of contentious mechanisms, the study of SSCPs aims to shed light on their development, their connection with the anti-austerity movement, as well as their relations with public institutions. The study of SSCPs through the conceptual lenses of contentious politics, aspires to contribute on the debate regarding forms of solidarity in times of crisis and the provision of social welfare from bellow, while it also poses questions about social movements’ co-optation and integration.