Transformations of an urban «neighborhood» in the center of Thessaloniki:

an auto-ethnographic account

Abstract

Anthropological research in Greece barely recorded the post-war neighborhood formations
during the urbanization period, even though the "neighborhood" was and is an important field of
social relations in the cities. This text presents in an auto-ethnographic way the transformations
of a neighborhood in the center of Thessaloniki. Through her own memories of the
neighborhood in the past and her participation in an activist group in the present, the author
presents the social changes that have occurred in the neighborhood, as well as contemporary
visions for its future as a “neighborhood”. The use of the “neighborhood” rhetoric by the urban
activist group highlights the importance of collectivity in urban interventions. The author also
raises questions of anthropological positionality in relation to the construction of anthropological
knowledge and the envisioning of possibilities pursued by the group.