The Gift of the Monks and the Economic Avaton of Athos

This paper proposes a re-evaluation of the relationship between the church and the state in Greece and the EU, focusing on the case of Mt. Athos. The paper argues that Athos is a Maussian ‘gift’ to Greece: the carrier of the Modern Greek identity, and a poison (farmakon) to the Greek economy, symbolizing decades of corruption of a state that is still struggling to get over its feudal past. It further argues that it is vital to work collectively towards social and political cohesion between the state and the church, through transparency and regulation in Greece, in order to confront the challenge of the European Unification and the unregulated market. These include issues of the avaton, metochia, the impact of the UNESCO Heritage funding and taxation, as well as, discussions over Russian investment in energy policies and transport networks which challenge the European policy objectives for the environment and Transport Network operations undertaken by Structural Funds. Athos is a meeting place of contestation between various secular (i.e. ‘cosmopolitan’) forces. A re-evaluation of the relation of Athos to Greece and Europe therefore could be used as a strategic model for restructuring and regulating the relationship between secular and theocratic offices; the present and the past; change and tradition.