CRITIC Crisis Narratives: Beyond Pandemic Discourses in Greece
CRITIC is an ambitious interdisciplinary research project that seeks to investigate the (re)configuration of European identities and subjectivities in times of crisis, using Greece as a case study. The project begins with the COVID-19 public health emergency, which further tested the cohesion and solidarity of the European Union following a series of protracted and overlapping crises—namely, financial, socio-political, and refugee-related. Moreover, through the prism of multiple crises, the European integration project faces increasing challenges from the rise of extreme nationalist and populist movements across several EU member states, movements that actively undermine efforts toward cultivating a shared European identity.
Objectives
The first objective is to create a comprehensive framework of the official as well as the popular Greek Orthodox and far-right discourses during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and to locate both the thematic areas where Orthodox narratives overlap with populist far-right discourses and the actors who employ these narratives (RQ1). We will focus on both top-down (far-right political parties Elliniki Lysi and NIKI, the Greek Orthodox Church) and bottom-up (clergy, citizens) levels of analysis. In particular, we will collect and analyse data from Holy Synod declarations, parliament speeches, mainstream media, and social media with the aim to unfold the basic themes, frames, rhetoric devices and strategies, and sentiments of these narratives.
The second objective is to examine the evolution of religious populist far-right narratives that emerged during the COVID-19 public health crisis and subsequent crises (e.g. energy crisis, war in Ukraine, Israeli-Palestinian conflict), as well as their spillover in other controversial issues, such as digital identities, new migration legislation, and same-sex marriage. To this end, we will follow the same levels of analysis (top-down and bottom-up) and will collect new data from the same sources and actors as in objective 1. To assess the extent to which crisis-driven religious populist far-right discourses influence Greek national identity imaginaries (RQ2), we will combine existing research and surveys on Greek national identity with our analysis findings.
Based on the above findings, CRITIC’s third objective is to examine the influence of multiple crises on national identity and on European identity imaginaries (RQ3). In particular, we will look into the official governmental discourse regarding European integration in parallel with the rise of nationalist discourses and the discursive enhancement of the Greek national identity. In addition, we will conduct interviews with far-right high-rank party members and clergy representatives, in order to understand how these actors who are among the strongest producers of Eurosceptic narratives discursively perceive the tension between national and European identity. To further understand the relationship between the current Greek national and European identity imaginaries and discourses, we will create a focus group to observe the interaction of Eurosceptic and pro-European persons and to assess the extent to which they make use of these narratives.
Impact
Scientific and Social Impact
With its interdisciplinary character, its innovative methodological approach and original findings, CRITIC circumvents the current dearth of research and knowledge on Greece by extracting rich ethnographic data to assess the effect of crisis national identity discourses on European identity imaginaries. It aims at tangible short, medium and long-term effects associated with distinct target groups.
Short-term beneficiaries are the academic community: CRITIC will advance the state of the art of research in Greek politics, Critical Discourse Studies, and far-right studies. It will provide original data from interviews with populist far-right leaders, the clergy, and individuals, as well as from social media and a wealth of linguistically driven insights on the construction of national identity. The field of implementation focuses on Greek national identity constructed around a religious narrative, but can further extend to numerous other European countries offering advanced knowledge to scholars researching European politics and identities.
Medium-term effects target national and European policymakers and stakeholders, by supplying them with improved evidence-based knowledge on the influence of religious populist far-right narratives on Europeanisation. In particular, policymakers in Greece and the EU will be able to comprehend better actors that impede European integration; stakeholders (such as international organisations, journalists, think tanks) will gain insights on how narratives developed by populist far-right actors with religious underpinnings function.
In the long-term, CRITIC aspires to facilitate researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders recognise how religious populist far-right narratives could influence Europeanization and how people can utilise social media as grassroots channels to (dis)identify themselves with Europe and the Greek nation state.
Methodology
CRITIC explores European identity as a supranational construct shaped by hegemonic institutions seeking to cultivate a shared EU consciousness—an ‘imagined community’ beyond legal citizenship (Boukala, 2019). The project examines the fragile interplay between European and national identities through both top-down and bottom-up discourses, with a focus on the COVID-19 crisis. It highlights the role of the Greek Orthodox Church and the overlap between its narratives and those of populist far-right nationalism.
To analyse these dynamics, CRITIC employs an interdisciplinary framework that integrates Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA), Multi-sited ethnography, and Sentiment Analysis (SA). CDA—specifically the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA)—examines how discursive strategies construct oppositions like ‘Us’ vs. ‘Them’ (Reisigl & Wodak, 2016). QCA enables systematic coding and thematic interpretation of materials (Schreier, 2012). Multi-sited ethnography uses narrative-tracing techniques (Marcus, 1995; Boukala & Serafis, 2022b) to link linguistic practices with national and European identity formations in underexplored contexts. SA applies Natural Language Processing and Text Mining to detect emotions, attitudes, and opinions in large-scale data (Liu, 2010), focusing on sentiments such as anger, fear, and solidarity within religious and far-right discourses.
Data is drawn from a wide range of sources, covering the period from the first COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020 to the European Parliament elections in June 2024. CRITIC analyses textual data from Holy Synod declarations, parliamentary speeches, mainstream and social media, selected according to genre, topic (e.g. vaccination, migration, Ukraine war, same-sex marriage), and discursive level (top-down or bottom-up). These datasets are examined through both qualitative and quantitative lenses to identify key themes, rhetorical strategies, and sentiment patterns.
In addition, semi-structured interviews with high-ranking members of Greek far-right parties and Orthodox clergy offer insights into how these key actors frame national versus European identity, especially in relation to vaccination scepticism. The sample is selected purposively (Kuzel, 1992; Patton, 2002) to capture narratives shaped by close contact with congregants and political followers. Focus groups will further assess how Eurosceptic and pro-European individuals interact and express these narratives in everyday discourse, helping to gauge their resonance and influence. Finally, official political discourses—speeches, debates, and national addresses—are analysed to understand how nationalistic and European identity imaginaries are discursively constructed or contested in response to EU-linked crises.
Through this mixed-method, multi-source approach, CRITIC aims to trace the evolving relationship between Greek nationalism, religious discourse, and European identity.
Structure
CRITIC is foreseen to have a duration of 36 months. The work plan is divided between six work packages (WP) that carry out the bulk work of the project’s objectives. The project takes a modular approach to enable an efficient research process within each WP and to ensure that an integrative approach is taken that considers the entire dissemination processes; Theoretical account and existing research on crisis narratives and national identity (WP1), Textual Data Collection and Analysis (WP2), Collection of original data from interviews and focus group (WP3), and Synthesis (WP4), Dissemination (WP5), and Project Management (WP6).
The six work packages through which the project is realised breakdown a total of 21 different tasks, 10 deliverables, and 13 milestones.