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This paper presents preliminary findings of an extensive socio-legal research project, currently in progress, concerning the implementation of the European Union and the Greek institutional framework on lifelong learning (LLL) and exploring the social effectiveness of LLL policy. The main outcomes, based on testing two research hypotheses through quantitative and qualitative content analysis, are presented. Firstly, there are significant differences in the ranking of four LLL objectives (employability/adaptability takes priority over social inclusion, personal fulfilment and active citizenship) as between legal documents of different origin (EU or national) and binding force (hard or soft law). Secondly, the key role of the global recession of 2008 in reinforcing the economic dimension of EU policy in the field is revealed. These data, considered from a socio-legal perspective, provide a basis for further discussion regarding national alignment to the EU's LLL policy and argue for new 'policy syntheses' informed by the views of social actors concerned with policy implementation, in line with a broad humanistic notion of LLL.

Sociologists and social scientists' low professional status looms large when looking at the rapidly changing professional hierarchy based on the prominent role of technology and of scientific applications for peoples' lives. The paper seeks to unveil the inadequate professionalization of sociology in Greece and to relate this situation to the increase in the employment precariousness of sociologists over the years of the economic crisis. Moreover, the dominant economy-centric ideological/ governance model which promotes the 'utilitarianism' of the social sciences has played a significant role in sociology's residual position. The paper is structured along three axes: First of all, the low professional status of sociologists is related to the delayed academic institutionalization of sociology. Secondly, there is brief discussion of the relevant literature on graduate supply and demand in the labour market and the expansion of higher education. Thirdly, a more focused discussion is developed which portrays the opportunities and challenges faced by sociologists and other social scientists in the labour market, giving particular emphasis to the current situation in the wake of the financial crisis. Finally, it is concluded that the vicious circle of low professionalization and high precariousness facing sociologists demands institutional action aimed at reformulating the public agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a large scale cross-sectional study examining subjective perceptions of community social life held by a randomly selected sample of residents (n = 428) in all small rural settings (n = 89) of the region of North Aegean Sea. The notion of social capital was used as a conceptual tool in order to explore different aspects of the relational life of contemporary rural communities. This study has two aims: First to provide an account of rural residents' perceptions of village life in terms of interpersonal support, mutual aid, trust, social cohesion and community competence, and second to examine the suitability of the social capital notion within the specific cultural context. A combination of data collection procedures and a range of sources were employed, such as key informants, rural residents and researchers' field observations. The findings indicate that small farming communities of high devotion with deep roots and strong sense of belonging face severe demographic imbalance and experience low civic power given the limited links with external agents. The mainstream notion of social capital as an unconditionally beneficial factor is thus questioned. The findings call for revisiting its relevance across communities with varying capacities and needs. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper poses the question of the persistent absence today of a sociology of religion of Islam, an absence which coincides with the continuation of a lively orientalist tradition. This gap is all the more intriguing if seen in the context of the history of sociology in France, and in particular the history of Durkheimism, which quickly established itself as a science of religious phenomena, but which tacitly avoided the three Semitic monotheisms (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). In contrast, the history of Indology and of the anthropology of ancient Greece shows clearly that the conjunction of sociological theory with the textual sciences could be accomplished only in relation to civilizations which are far from the West’s own religious core. It is possible then that Islam and the knowledge of it as a religion occurs within a blind spot (un impensé) characteristic of the history of ideas in nineteenth-century France in which Christianity, and especially the religion of the Ancien Regime, constitute an ever-present barrier to a clear vision. The scientific construction of Islam suffers from too close a proximity, or an absence of distance, with regard to French society’s own (problematic) religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines certain aspects of the relationship between class structure and clientelistic politics by focusing on a specific case: that of modern Greece. In particular, by looking at the way in which functionalist sociology and anthropology, on the one hand, and certain brands of Marxism, on the other, deal with the problem of political clientelism (mainly in the Greek context but also more generally), an attempt will be made (a) to formulate some general metatheoretical[1] guidelines on the manner in which such a relationship should be conceptualised; and (b) to give a brief sketch of the way in which the class-clientelism relationship has changed with the historical development of Greek capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on pre-conditions for sociology to develop and the subject matters of emerging sociology in Greece. Pre-conditions were at hand but without continuity, and the opportunity for sociology to develop was lost. Sociology is said to have started in 1907 with the book The Social Question by Georgos Skliros. He presented sociology and Marxism as identical and deals with Greek society and (among other things) the language issue, all of which triggered off a vibrant debate. Sociological associations and journals were started. However, the initially reformist perspective of social science was gradually replaced by an approach that was more socio-philosophical, influenced by classical sociology, German sociology in particular. This turn was associated with the institutionalization of sociology at the universities during the 1920's. The Metaxas dictatorship in 1936 put a stop to any further development of sociology for a long time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, a considerable proportion of the public political discourse on nationwide elections proceeds in Online Social Networks. Through analyzing this content, we can discover the major themes that prevailed during the discussion, investigate the temporal variation of positive and negative sentiment and examine the semantic proximity of these themes. According to existing studies, the results of similar tasks are heavily dependent on the quality and completeness of dictionaries for linguistic preprocessing, entity discovery and sentiment analysis. Additionally, noise reduction is achieved with methods for sarcasm detection and correction. Here we report on the application of these methods on the complete corpus of tweets regarding two local electoral events of worldwide impact: the Greek referendum of 2015 and the subsequent legislative elections. To this end, we compiled novel dictionaries for sentiment and entity detection for the Greek language tailored to these events. We subsequently performed volume analysis, sentiment analysis, sarcasm correction and topic modeling. Results showed that there was a strong anti-austerity sentiment accompanied with a critical view on European and Greek political actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the top leading causes of death and disability, and its management is focused on reducing risk factors, relieving symptoms, and preventing exacerbations. The study aim was to describe COPD prescribing patterns in Greece by using existing health administrative data for outpatients. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study based on prescriptions collected by the largest social insurance fund, during the first and last trimester of 2012. Selection criteria were the prescription of specific active substances and a COPD diagnosis. Extracted information included active substance, strength, pharmaceutical form and number of packages prescribed, diagnosis, time of dispensing, as well as insurees’ age, gender, percentage of co-payment and social security unique number. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results: 174,357 patients received medicines for COPD during the study period. Patients were almost equally distributed between male and female, and age above 55 years was strongly correlated with COPD. Most patients received a long-acting beta agonist plus inhaled corticosteroid combination (LABA +ICS), followed by long-acting muscarinic agonist (LAMA). 63% patients belonging in the 35–54 age received LABA+ICS. LAMA was prescribed more frequently among males and was strongly correlated with COPD. Conclusion: The study provides big data analysis of Greek COPD prescribing patterns. It highlights the need for appropriate COPD classification in primary care illustrating the role of electronic prescribing in ensuring appropriate prescribing. Moreover, it indicates possible gender differences in treatment response or disease severity, and the impact of statutory co-payments on prescribing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to better understand the triggers of suicide, particularly among the ancient Greek and Persian soldiers and commanders. Method: 'Herodotus: The Histories' is a history of the rulers and soldiery who participated in the Greco-Persian wars (492-449 BCE). A new translation (2013) of this manuscript was studied. Accounts of suicide were collected and collated, with descriptions of circumstances, methods, and probable triggers. Results: Nine accounts of suicide were identified. Eight of these were named individuals (4 Greeks and 4 Persians); of whom, seven were male. Only one (not the female) appeared to act in response to a mental disorder. Other triggers of suicide included guilt, avoidance of dishonour/punishment and altruism. Cutting/ stabbing was the most common method; others included hanging, jumping, poison, and burning (the single female). Conclusion: While soldiers at a time of war do not reflect the general community, they are nevertheless members of their society. Thus, this evidence demonstrates that suicide triggered by burdensome circumstances (in addition to mental disorder) was known to the Greek and Persian people more than two millennia ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Pakistan are visible thousands of children living alone in the streets, used by different kind of people for underground proposes. Then one finds them older entering Greece borders, bringing with them the underground exploitative activities as well as the solidarity support of local population living where migrant pass. Looking to the youngsters migrant flow from Afghanistan to Europe, is it possible to understand it when sociologist look at it as a problem of national stock and flow? Or does sociology need to adopt without borders methodologies? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The `dark figure' of crime is a key aspect in understanding crime rates, as it constitutes an obstacle in validating the quantification of criminality. Theft, although it is significant in terms of perceived personal victimisation, may be trivial in terms of financial cost in many instances, and it is thought to have a big `dark figure'. The purpose of this research note is to provide some information about the police recording of theft, one of the factors that influence the construction of its `dark figure', in a prefecture in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every experience and action is located in a specific physical environment, which provides certain possibilities and imposes certain limitations on people's lives. However, the relation of space and women's struggles has not been adequately explored in the field of sociology. Sociological studies generally miss the rich and dynamic nature of space--a "product" of social conflicts and cultural values, a source of influence on social action and a social construct. This article addresses the following questions in the context of Athens, Greece: how does urban space affect women's struggles in Athens; how do the content and form of their struggles differ along class lines; and how do Athenian women act to influence and alter the spatial parameters of their lives? Furthermore, urban space denotes the human-made environment of the city, which includes housing, services and transportation--all-important urban planning issues. However, since urban space is the product of historically specific social and class struggles, each specific space has a class of its own, indicated by the kind of housing, services and transportation that exist in it.

The article evaluates the political science literatures in Greece. It was noted that the range of discussions and the quality of studies reflected on the researches manifests that the political studies in the country is steadily improving, though, a great deal has to be realized and necessary improvements in vital sectors are badly required. Nevertheless, it was stressed that certain areas of the literatures are more dynamic and more promising such as the international relations and the areas on European studies.

The article discusses the development and evolution of political science in Greece. The author provides two premise in which the political science in Greece must be observed. The first being the conformation to general trends in European and Western nations. It must involve the gradual emancipation of systematic social and political inquiry from the legal sciences to the social science disciplines. The second level involves Greek historical experience. It looks into the delayed social and political development with the dynamics of nation-building and state-building. The trajectories in the in the study discipline are further explained.

Two important traditions of research on the causes of voting preferences, one that stresses social variables and is associated with the University of Columbia and the other that examines current issues and is identified with the University of Michigan Survey Research Institute, are drawn upon to help provide an analysis of political party preference in Greece. Among the social variables used in the study, age is the only significant one. Issues related to foreign policy concerns, socioeconomic redistribution, and government record tend to have strong effects on left-leaning party preference. It is suggested that Greek parties do tend to proclaim rather distinct positions on foreign policy issues and socioeconomic redistribution, and Greeks perceive a difference between the parties on these issues. However, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in reality may not be as radical on foreign policy issues as some of its rhetoric suggests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of rhetorical systems in three historical periods. The rhetoric of the classical period arose out of a two-fold problem or need. First, with the development of democratic institutions in the city states of Sicily in Italy and Greece, speechmaking as an activity found new avenues of expression and gained in importance until it came to be regarded as an art form as well as a social instrument. And, second, how could proficiency in the important business of performing this speech act be taught in a society where every man must act as his own lawyer and his own legislator? These two needs were the decisive factors in determining the nature of the classical rhetoric. Whereas the rhetoric of the classical period was basically grammatical in nature, the new rhetoric of the eighteenth century period is best described as psychological. In the effort to carry rhetoric beyond the grammar of the speech act, the architects of the new system gave rhetoric an epistemological rather than a grammatical or a logical starting point. The third and last of the period systems extends from the early 193O's to the present time and encompasses developments which have occurred in the United States. Rhetoric of the third period may best be described as social or sociological. For while as a system contemporary rhetoric is unusually complex and embraces many specialized strands of interest, all of these strands find unity in the fact that at bottom they view rhetoric as an instrument for understanding and improving human relations.