Martha Kapazoglou’s article immerses the reader in the everyday experiences of the frontline state employees in Greece demonstrating that after the austerity policies were set in place, many of them found hard to distinguish themselves from the people whom they are supposed to help with state aid. Indeed some employees are at the same time also beneficiaries of the aid system. This precarious situation, Kapazoglou argues, explains how resentement and contempt can co-exist with sense of duty and service to the citizens in need. Kapazoglou provides an excellent picture of how the state gets enacted showing that state has hardly any insde.
Citation: Kapazoglou, Martha. 2026. ‘Abandoned by the State?: Precarious Municipal Workers and Their Indigent Clients in Greece’. Ethnos, April, 1–17. doi:10.1080/00141844.2026.2655333.