Women's political participation in greece since the colonels dictatorship: From democratic struggle to incorporation by the party state?

Cram, Laura (1994) Women's political participation in greece since the colonels dictatorship: From democratic struggle to incorporation by the party state? Democratization, 1 (2). pp. 229-250. ISSN 1351-0347 (https://doi.org/10.1080/13510349408403389)

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Abstract

This article examines the changing nature of women's political participation in Greece and argues that the period since 1974 has seen a shift from political participation through women's involvement in popular democratic struggles to the increasing incorporation of the women's movement by the Greek 'party-state'. From 1967-74 Greece lived under the repressive dictatorship of the Colonels. Yet Greece now enjoys some of the most progressive legislation in Europe in the area of equality between the sexes. Most of the demands of the Greek women's movement of the late 1970s were already translated into public policy provisions by the 1980s. Women's issues came to be accepted on to the political agenda in Greece in part as a result of women's participation in national struggles for liberation and democracy through which they developed close links with the parties of the Left. In the short term, collaboration with the newly formed or newly liberated parties of the Left brought important rewards for the women's organizations and allowed women a voice in Greek politics for the first time. However, it is argued that collaboration has also had its costs - not least of which has been the linkage of progress on women's issues with the spoils of political office.