Social Support Actions as Forms of Building Community Resilience at the Onset of the Crisis in Urban Greece: The Case of Chania

Abstract

In the context of the recent global financial crisis Greece has faced an unprecedented recession with devastating impacts on individuals' lives echoed in record unemployment and poverty rates. Greek society has collectively responded by providing social support to those in need through the mobilization of social movement organizations, local authorities, different associations, the Orthodox Church etc. The chapter presents the findings of a study applying the quantitative approach of event analysis and based on a community resilience framework explores social support activity including soup kitchens, free distribution of clothes and other basic products, free health care, educational services in a Greek urban society, i.e. Chania. The results unveil the escalating trend in social support actions at the onset of the crisis and their main attributes as important components in building community resilience. The paper focuses specifically on the support activity of social movement organizations as the most active organizing agency during the period under study. It is recommended that future studies in communities severely affected from economic crises could enhance our understanding in social support actions as forms of building community resilience.