State

Apart from access to these fields, which is intertwined with the fields of rights and citizenship and thus with migration policy, state policies largely shape both the framework of care provided “from above” and the everyday care infrastructure. At the same time, across the whole spectrum of social policy and social welfare, there is a polarity: on the one hand, the state can support those populations in need; on the other hand, it can exercise social control and, through social policies (or the absence thereof), punish and discipline.1 This is why the radical and holistic democratization of these institutions, both on a national and local level, is a key political imperative.

The policies regulating the welfare state change over time as a result of conflicts between different values, ideological, economic, and political approaches, and religious beliefs. So, if we look historically at the role of the state in the provision of care services in Greece, we will realize that the welfare state has not been shaped by any coherent planning but is instead characterized by a strong and even pernicious fragmentation, weak state institutions and bodies at all levels, and a devaluation of the care professions. This underlines that the services provided are also deficient and end up addressing mainly groups of the population with very low incomes and, therefore, limited ability to use private providers. The economic crisis of the last decade and then the rise of the covid pandemic further devalued and dismantled social security, health, labor, and education policies. At the same time, neoliberal and neoconservative government policies are trying to cultivate the concept of private care and individual responsibility, whereby citizens take care of themselves and their family.