Othon Alexandrakis
Associate Professor
Chair, Anthropology
Office: Vari Hall, 2050
Phone: (416)736-2100 Ext: x40139
Email: oalexand@yorku.ca
Accepting New Graduate Students
Ph.D. – Rice University (2010) M.A. – University of Western Ontario (2003) B.A. – University of Western Ontario (2001) Following his doctoral studies Othon joined the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2010-2011). His teaching, publications and research focus on: citizenship, migration, emergent and contested identities, governance, cities, Greece and Europe. His broader academic interests include ethnographic methods/writing, theory, NGOs, discourse publics, and memory.
My primary areas of research include emergent and contested identities, citizenship, migration and governance. I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork in and around Athens, Greece, among various populations that live in that city, including undocumented migrants (mostly from West Africa), anti-establishment youth and the Roma (Gypsy) community. My research and teaching have been inspired by the following question: how do unconventional citizens, that is individuals considered to be outside juridical categories of citizenship and/or socio-historical prescriptions of civil collective, contribute to processes of social change? Lately this question has gained special currency. Like Spain, Italy, and several other European states, Greece has entered a period of deepening socioeconomic and political uncertainty, democratic deficit and sudden mass impoverishment. In response, local people of all description are drawing on various sociocultural resources to give cogent form and content and direction to the insecurity with which they are now faced. By querying the modes, effects and finalities of new mobilisations of unconventional political actors in Athens, I aim to contribute to a broader understanding of how modern European states are being remade at this time of neoliberal experimentation and contested statecraft.
Degrees
Ph.D., Rice University (2010)M.A., University of Western Ontario (2003)
B.A., University of Western Ontario (2001)
Research Interests
Alexandrakis, Othon. 2016. “Incidental Activism: Graffiti and Political Possibility in Athens, Greece.” Cultural Anthropology 31(2): 272-296.
Alexandrakis, Othon. 2015. "Transformative Connections: Trauma, Cooperative Horizons, and Emerging Political Topographies in Athens, Greece." History and Anthropology 27 (1):32-44.
Othon Alexandrakis. 2013. “Neoliberalism and the New Agora: Exploring Survival, Emergence, and Political Subjectivity among Pluralized Subaltern Communities in Athens, Greece.” Anthropological Quarterly. 86(1): 77-106.
Alexandrakis, Othon, and David Nugent. Political Spatio-temporalities: A Conversation with David Nugent. Interview. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review Online, 23 January 2017, https://polarjournal.org/2017/01/23/political-spatio-temporalities-a-conversation-with-david-nugent
Alexandrakis, Othon, and John Borneman. The Crucial Question. Interview. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review Online, 23 January 2017, https://polarjournal.org/2017/01/23/the-crucial-question-an-interview
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2024 | AP/ANTH4450 3.0 | A | The Anthropology of the City | SEMR |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2025 | GS/ANTH6020 3.0 | M | Advanced Methods In Anthropology | SEMR |
Ph.D. – Rice University (2010) M.A. – University of Western Ontario (2003) B.A. – University of Western Ontario (2001) Following his doctoral studies Othon joined the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2010-2011). His teaching, publications and research focus on: citizenship, migration, emergent and contested identities, governance, cities, Greece and Europe. His broader academic interests include ethnographic methods/writing, theory, NGOs, discourse publics, and memory.
My primary areas of research include emergent and contested identities, citizenship, migration and governance. I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork in and around Athens, Greece, among various populations that live in that city, including undocumented migrants (mostly from West Africa), anti-establishment youth and the Roma (Gypsy) community. My research and teaching have been inspired by the following question: how do unconventional citizens, that is individuals considered to be outside juridical categories of citizenship and/or socio-historical prescriptions of civil collective, contribute to processes of social change? Lately this question has gained special currency. Like Spain, Italy, and several other European states, Greece has entered a period of deepening socioeconomic and political uncertainty, democratic deficit and sudden mass impoverishment. In response, local people of all description are drawing on various sociocultural resources to give cogent form and content and direction to the insecurity with which they are now faced. By querying the modes, effects and finalities of new mobilisations of unconventional political actors in Athens, I aim to contribute to a broader understanding of how modern European states are being remade at this time of neoliberal experimentation and contested statecraft.
Degrees
Ph.D., Rice University (2010)M.A., University of Western Ontario (2003)
B.A., University of Western Ontario (2001)
Research Interests
All Publications
Alexandrakis, Othon. 2016. “Incidental Activism: Graffiti and Political Possibility in Athens, Greece.” Cultural Anthropology 31(2): 272-296.
Alexandrakis, Othon. 2015. "Transformative Connections: Trauma, Cooperative Horizons, and Emerging Political Topographies in Athens, Greece." History and Anthropology 27 (1):32-44.
Othon Alexandrakis. 2013. “Neoliberalism and the New Agora: Exploring Survival, Emergence, and Political Subjectivity among Pluralized Subaltern Communities in Athens, Greece.” Anthropological Quarterly. 86(1): 77-106.
Alexandrakis, Othon, and David Nugent. Political Spatio-temporalities: A Conversation with David Nugent. Interview. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review Online, 23 January 2017, https://polarjournal.org/2017/01/23/political-spatio-temporalities-a-conversation-with-david-nugent
Alexandrakis, Othon, and John Borneman. The Crucial Question. Interview. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review Online, 23 January 2017, https://polarjournal.org/2017/01/23/the-crucial-question-an-interview
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2024 | AP/ANTH4450 3.0 | A | The Anthropology of the City | SEMR |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2025 | GS/ANTH6020 3.0 | M | Advanced Methods In Anthropology | SEMR |
