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This article studies the Greek crisis since 2009 with a synthesized Marxian framework by embedding the Greek capital accumulation process into the capitalist core-periphery structure in the European Union, which deteriorated the competitiveness of Greece and adversely impacted its capital accumulation, leading to a relatively low profit rate in the neoliberal era. Institutions of the European Union helped Greece turn to debt-driven accumulation to sustain growth, especially the external debt of government, but the weak productive accumulation because of relatively low profit rate made the accumulation of debt unsustainable in the long run. When doubt was cast on Greece's capacity to repay its debts, the economy lost external sources of funding, leading to a halt in debt expansion and the burst of the sovereign debt crisis. JEL Classification : E11, F02, O10 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the specificities of youth identity construction in Brazil in the context of global transformations and the particularities of the Brazilian model of development. Poor urban Brazilian youngsters' demands to consume, as a 'mode of inclusion' in society, achieve short-term gains that narrow down prospective visions of the self. A 'logic of survival' hypothesis is proposed to account for the process of identity construction whereby encapsulated and rigid, rather than hybridized and creative, identities are constituted. The hypothesis is illustrated with a discussion of the cases of the drug dealer, the religious fanatic and the labourer. New cultural forms of consumer culture also convey claims for recognition and justice, shown by the musical expressions coming from the peripheries of big cities. It remains to be seen whether musical and artistic expressions, as possible factors that can enhance self-respect and group solidarity among poor youth, will not be consumed just as a new item of the culture industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]