99
artists from around the world distributed through websites, over peer-to-peer networks,
and by online radio stations such as “Radio Revolt” became another popular source of
online anti-state discourse. Of note, “Radio Revolt” openly supports anarchist activities
and even provides a forum where the letters of jailed dissidents are read. Anti-
establishment bands like “Hands of Cain” which had originally formed in Athens in 1983
but never released a record, and “On Sea” (“Ev ∏λω,,} which formed in Athens in 1985 to
little commercial success102, were being rediscovered online103. Finally, young people
began to read blogs maintained by anarchists and others sympathetic to the anarchist
cause both in Greece and abroad. Up to 2007 one such popular blog entitled “follow the
rabbits” was maintained by an anarchist. To generate interest and an “insider” following,
the author would tag city walls with rabbit graffiti in the style of the British graffiti artist
Banksy. Of note, these blogs didn’t address political concerns exclusively, but rather
discussed a wide range of issues and themes from sports, especially soccer, to popular
television programs.104
As individuals belonging to interwoven social networks struggled with common
conditions and issues, the anti-establishment discourses they consumed primarily online
fostered a sense of unity based on a shared anti-establishment ethos, especially as these
discourses were incorporated into the publics young people attended to socially (see
Shirky 2008; Warner 2OO2)105. Yet, community-based, rhizomatic, or mixed anti-
102 Of note, the track “dream” from this record was dedicated to the political radical Mixalis Prekas.
103 In fact, some of these bands, like “Hands of Cain”, became such online hits that their music was picked
up by record companies and is currently available for sale in brick-and-mortar stores on vinyl.
1041 focus here primarily on the internet, although magazines, graffiti, etc. are other mediums by which
anti-establishment discourses are disseminated. The key is that unlike previous examinations of subversive
media (Downing 2001), these mediums convey discourses that are not necessarily locally bound, even
when they are locally produced.
105 Theorists have long noted the special role small gatherings play in developing a common spirit or sense
among a population (Giesen 2001 ; Habermas 1991:32).