Difference between revisions of "Fakelaki (Greece)"

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Fakelaki has become infamous since the outbreak of the Greek economic crisis of 2009. As of October 2015, this had resulted in three bailout packages amounting to €295 billion administered by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (known as ‘the Troika’) in return for economic reform and restructuring by Greece (Knight 2015a)<ref>Knight, D. 2015a. History, Time, and Economic Crisis in Central Greece. New York: Palgrave Macmillan</ref>. International media have repeatedly highlighted the fact that fakelakia, meson (use of contacts), patronage and clientelism (Campbell 1964)<ref>Campbell, J. 1964. Honour, Family and Patronage: A Study of Institutions and Moral Values in a Greek Mountain Community. Oxford: Oxford University Press</ref> in economic transactions are long-standing examples of the ‘bad economic practice’ that provoked Greece’s economic crisis. The Troika set numerous policy goals to be implemented in Greece and aimed at eradicating the ‘fakelaki culture’ and promoting what bureaucrats in Brussels and Berlin term ‘economic modernisation.’

Fakelaki has become infamous since the outbreak of the Greek economic crisis of 2009. As of October 2015, this had resulted in three bailout packages amounting to €295 billion administered by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (known as ‘the Troika’) in return for economic reform and restructuring by Greece (Knight 2015a)<ref>Knight, D. 2015a. History, Time, and Economic Crisis in Central Greece. New York: Palgrave Macmillan</ref>. International media have repeatedly highlighted the fact that fakelakia, meson (use of contacts), patronage and clientelism (Campbell 1964)<ref>Campbell, J. 1964. Honour, Family and Patronage: A Study of Institutions and Moral Values in a Greek Mountain Community. Oxford: Oxford University Press</ref> in economic transactions are long-standing examples of the ‘bad economic practice’ that provoked Greece’s economic crisis. The Troika set numerous policy goals to be implemented in Greece and aimed at eradicating the ‘fakelaki culture’ and promoting what bureaucrats in Brussels and Berlin term ‘economic modernisation.’

Fakelaki is also connected to a work-culture that perceives the various documents issued by authorities as ‘papers’ that you need to pay a price for in order ‘to buy.’ Anthropologists working in Greece have found that patients have been denied emergency medical treatment, building permits have been denied and university degrees withheld due to the inability to pay the amount required in a fakelaki. At the other end of the spectrum, it has been noted that politicians, civil servants and building companies have obtained office and/or paperwork through significant fakelaki payments that have been made ‘under the table.’ Some particular cases of fakelaki payments have become infamous after being caught on camera as subjects of investigative journalism. Transparency International (TI), the global non-governmental organisation that campaigns against corruption, reports that individuals and companies can bribe inspectors and evade taxes through the payment of fakelakia. In 2012, TI asserted, the average bribe paid to a public servant in Greece amounted to €1,228 (US$1,372). TI puts the average ‘cost’ of a driving licence in Greece as between €100 and €300, while getting surgery in a hospital can cost anywhere between €100 and €30,000.

Fakelaki is also connected to a work-culture that perceives the various documents issued by authorities as ‘papers’ that you need to pay a price for in order ‘to buy.’ Anthropologists working in Greece have found that patients have been denied emergency medical treatment, building permits have been denied and university degrees withheld due to the inability to pay the amount required in a fakelaki. At the other end of the spectrum, it has been noted that politicians, civil servants and building companies have obtained office and/or paperwork through significant fakelaki payments that have been made ‘under the table.’ Some particular cases of fakelaki payments have become infamous after being caught on camera as subjects of investigative journalism. Transparency International (TI), the global non-governmental organisation that campaigns against corruption, reports that individuals and companies can bribe inspectors and evade taxes through the payment of fakelakia. In 2012, TI asserted, the average bribe paid to a public servant in Greece amounted to €1,228 (US$1,372). TI puts the average ‘cost’ of a driving licence in Greece as between €100 and €300, while getting surgery in a hospital can cost anywhere between €100 and €30,000.