Life in a Changing Greek Village: Karpofora and Its Reluctant Farmers (review)

Reviews 189 exhibited during the junta years, is not simply a disinterested onlooker. He speaks for a polity of virtue and reports that in the years since 1974 democratic principles have passed a series of tests with flying colors. According to Clogg, although the 'dictatorial deviation' of 1967-74 attempted to stem the tide of political modernization, it did in fact unwittingly create a consensus among Greek political forces which led to key changes. He writes: ". . . the remarkably smooth transition from authoritarian rule to a genuinely pluralistic democracy signified a crucial stage in the development of parties in Greece" (p. 216). The handing over of power by the conservatives to the socialists in 1981 constituted the acid test of democratization. This reviewer would like to raise certain minor questions in tribute to the author's impressive collection of data and information. The Ethnikon Enotikon Komma was founded by P. Ranellopoulos before the war and in 1950 was headed by both its founder and St. Stephanopoulos (p. 32). The text leaves one with the impression that the leadership of this party belonged to Stephanopoulos alone. Mikhail Stasinopoulos was appointed, not elected, acting-President of the Republic in 1974 (p. 66). Clogg believes that the spirit of Raramanlis' constitutional craft of 1974—which aspired to create a system of bipolar executive power (shared by the head of state and the head of the government)—was in essence preserved in the constitution promulgated in June 1975. Raramanlis initially aspired to create a Presidential Republic with the intention of occupying the high office. His original draft was, however, fraught with contradictions and was also faced with the loud outcry of the opposition. Ultimately, Raramanlis abandoned his plan for a powerful presidency and setded for a constitution that made parliament the major source of power and legitimacy . Instead of pursuing the position of the President, he chose to remain Prime Minister, at least until 1980. Thanos Veremis University of Athens Stanley Aschenbrenner, Life in a Changing Greek Village: Karpofora and Its Reluctant Farmers. Dubuque: Rendall Hunt Publishing Company . 1986. Pp. ix + 127. This monograph, the second from the University of Minnesota's Center for Ancient Studies, is a remarkably straightforward, traditionally -structured ethnography of a single rural Greek community. 190 Reviews Drawing on an extraordinary amount of field work between 1969 and 1986, Aschenbrenner sweeps widely over many aspects of life in the kinotü of Rarpofora (2km. from the Gulf of Messenia, along the Ralamata -Pylos highway). Indeed it is Aschenbrenner's detailed knowledge of this one particular community that constitutes the book's greatest strength and defines its overall limitations. Aschenbrenner presents a wealth of interesting data concerning Rarpofora that both confirm and extend points raised in other studies of rural Greece. Particularly valuable are his discussions of agricultural diversification in a market economy, fluctuations in familial wealth from generation to generation, the importance of patrilineal surname groups, the complex workings of spiritual kinship, and the ways in which young villagers have been socialized toward migration away from Rarpofora. This monograph also updates the anthropology of rural Greece by including much information on how Rarpofora has weathered the changes of the 1980s. Aschenbrenner makes an unusual attempt to place the lifeways of the kinotü in historical context by noting the village's 19th century population expansion, the 20th century development of a new settlement cluster along the highway, the growth of factionalism during the way years, and the emigration and urbanization now undermining the community's future. The general reliability of this account is attested by Aschenbrenner 's long-standing relationship with the people of Rarpofora and the open channels of communication he has clearly established with them. In translating his personal knowledge of Rarpoforan life for a wider audience, Aschenbrenner takes a middle course between internal village perceptions of that life and a more externally-directed analysis. The table of contents reflects standard social science categories and the discussion is generally positivist in nature. At the same time, a more reflexive understanding repeatedly makes itself felt through the many lengthy anecdotes concerning particular villagers scattered throughout the book. Aschenbrenner does an admirable job of moving between these two approaches, but strong proponents of...