ways they come to influence and change broader underlying understandings and practice
of being in∕of the state. I focus specifically on newcomer undocumented migrant
populations, the broadly segregated and disenfranchised Roma2 community, and the
anarchist and rapidly growing anti-establishment youth population. My work maps the
shifting narrative, physical, and ideological topographies these communities occupy
separately, and during times when they coalesce. I posit that, both in their everyday
struggles and at times when their actions spill into public spheres, be it for economic,
social, political, or other reasons, these communities influence how the broader
population perceives and practices modem citizenship.
In this work I provide an ethnographic account of each of these communities,
exploring their contemporary circumstances and in some cases the historical trajectories
and conditions that brought them about. Chapter two follows the story of a young
undocumented migrant from Mauritania named Jigo as he lands on the island of Mytilene,
travels to Athens and transitions from a condition of traveling to one of permanence.
Throughout I explore the socio-cultural processes, strategies, and the broader
implications of his survival. I also explore more general migrant experiences,
understandings, and engagement with the polis and its borders. In chapter three I
undertake an examination of modem socio-political change in Athens alongside a study
of the rise of an anti-establishment youth and its relationship with the contemporary
anarchist movement. The fourth chapter in this work focuses on the Roma community of
Halandri. I follow the story of my consultant, Vasilo (see Alexandrakis 2003), while
exploring the broader cultural∕national identity politics this community negotiates, their
enactments of citizenship, and the spaces of resistance they create within urban settings.
2 Otherwise known as Gypsies (Tσtγγαvoι).