The notion of happiness has been a frequent subject of recent governmental proclamations, signaling a departure from the moralizing discourses of guilt, blame, and debt surrounding the crisis of the past decade. While tourism in the thrived and became the growth engine of the Greek economy, unemployment rates skyrocketed, and the country experienced a significant wave of out-migration (Labrianidis and Pratsinakis, 2016). In this context, speaking of ‘happiness’ appears somewhat curious at first glance. But at a closer look, as we will show, it serves a dual purpose. On the one hand, happiness is used by the Mitsotakis government to radically re-brand Greece after a decade of austerity to attract ‘human capital’ (and foreign investments), desirable migrants (especially ‘digital nomads’) and visitors. On the other hand, happiness is to discipline the Greek population.
The Political Imaginary of Happiness in Greece
