Assistant Professor of Public Policy
School for Government
The Policy Institute
georgios.samaras (a) kcl.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7848 7325
40 Aldwych
Bush House - North East Wing
King’s College London
Room 8.09
WC2B 4BG
Instagram / Bluesky
Publications
Samaras, G. (Forthcoming). Decoding the Symbolic Storm Fuelling Greek Far-Right Politics: a Visual Essay. Visual Studies.
Samaras, G. (Forthcoming). Hide and Seek: Extreme-Right Leadership and Communication Tactics Behind Bars in Greece. Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory.
Samaras, G. (Forthcoming). From Surveillance to Suppression. Index on Censorship.
Samaras, G. (Forthcoming). Who Rules the Land of Denial? Book Project.
Samaras, G. (Forthcoming). Battleground Europe: The Rise of Anti-Woke Movements and Their Threat to Democratic Values. Frontiers in Political Science.
Samaras, G. (2023). Opening the Floodgates of Hate: An Investigation into Golden Dawn's Online Extremism. King’s College London. PhD Thesis.
Working Papers
Framing the Crisis: How Extreme-Right Narratives Mobilised Voters through Cultural Resonance in Greece. Working Paper. Under Submission - available upon request.
This paper offers a theoretically informed account of how Greece’s extreme-right Golden Dawn converted economic hardship, immigration, and perceived cultural decline into politically resonant frames during the financial crisis. Drawing on social movement framing theory, it moves beyond descriptive correlations and emotionality to show how extreme-right actors strategically shape public understandings of turmoil.
This article examines how the Greek extreme-right party Golden Dawn harnessed YouTube to promote nationalist propaganda through multimodal strategies encompassing text, imagery, and audio. By blending long-standing nationalist narratives with the distinctive affordances of digital platforms, Golden Dawn’s video content reflects the resilience and adaptability of extreme-right movements operating within contemporary media ecologies
The paper outlines the rise and fall of SYRIZA, the left-wing political party in Greece. Initially propelled to power in 2015 on an anti-austerity platform, the party’s ascent reflected public discontent with neoliberal policies. However, SYRIZA’s subsequent compromises, including agreeing to austerity measures it once opposed, led to its political marginalisation and decline by 2024.
This visual essay explores how far‐right visual campaigns reshape collective memory and national identity in contemporary Germany. Through photographic fieldwork in Munich and Karlsruhe, the study examines the visual rhetoric of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) campaign, highlighting themes of reclaimed freedom, leadership, and remigration.
This article examines the Greek government’s evolving narrative through three distinct phases: an initial acknowledgment of the disaster’s gravity, a subsequent campaign to minimize its severity, and eventual attempts to distort public outrage and shift blame. Employing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study scrutinizes 150 official statements, interviews, and social media posts by government officials and ruling party legislators.
Book Reviews
Samaras, G. (2024). The Politics of Memory in the Italian Populist Radical Right. LSE Review of Books.
Samaras, G. (2023). Populism in Power: Discourse and Performativity in SYRIZA and Donald Trump. LSE Review of Books.
Samaras, G. (2023). The Capitol Riots. Digital Media, Disinformation, and Democracy Under Attack. International Journal of Press-Politics. DOI: 10.1177/19401612231172315
Samaras, G. (2023). The culture of democracy–a sociological approach to civil society: edited by Bin Xu, Cambridge, Polity, 2022. Democratization. ISBN 1509543988. DOI: 10.1080/13510347.2022.2142209
Samaras, G. (2022). Rise of the Extreme Right: A Lowy Institute Paper: edited by Lydia Khalil, Melbourne, Penguin, 2022, ISBN 1761046357. Politics, Religion & Ideology . DOI: 10.1080/21567689.2022.2146283
Samaras, G. (2023). Populism in Power: Discourse and Performativity in SYRIZA and Donald Trump. LSE Review of Books.
Samaras, G. (2023). The Capitol Riots. Digital Media, Disinformation, and Democracy Under Attack. International Journal of Press-Politics. DOI: 10.1177/19401612231172315
Samaras, G. (2023). The culture of democracy–a sociological approach to civil society: edited by Bin Xu, Cambridge, Polity, 2022. Democratization. ISBN 1509543988. DOI: 10.1080/13510347.2022.2142209
Samaras, G. (2022). Rise of the Extreme Right: A Lowy Institute Paper: edited by Lydia Khalil, Melbourne, Penguin, 2022, ISBN 1761046357. Politics, Religion & Ideology . DOI: 10.1080/21567689.2022.2146283
Miscellaneous Publications
Aspiring European Imitators of Trumpism. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
Greek views on gendered violence and equality: unveiling attitudes and concerns. London School of Economics. Link.
The "curse" of "overtourism" and extreme inequalities. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
Moral Panic and Greek Politics. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
International & European Developments Bulletin #20 | Europe at the Polls – Where is the EU Heading? ENA Institute. Link.
Sliding Away from Unity. University of Oxford - Department of Politics and International Relations (OxPol). Link.
Swift Moves: Tackling Europe's Far-Right Tango with Taylor: Poll to Poll 2024. King’s College London. Link.
Normalisation and Co-existence: extremist tendencies in centre-right factions. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
Party Movement and Authoritarian Tendencies in Greece. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
Pamphlet No 8: First Thoughts on the 25th June 2023 Election in Greece. PSA Greek Politics. Link.
Pamphlet No 7: First Thoughts on the 21st May 2023 Election in Greece. PSA Greek Politics. Link.
The normalisation of the far-right in Greek politics. ECPR - Illiberalism Paper Series. Link.
The Far-right in Greece and the Parliament. ENA Institute for Alternative Policies Papers. Link.
The Greek Far-Right after Golden Dawn: what’s next? C-REX - University of Oslo. Link.
Outlawing Golden Dawn. European Institute of the Mediterranean Yearbook. Link.
Aspiring European Imitators of Trumpism. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
Greek views on gendered violence and equality: unveiling attitudes and concerns. London School of Economics. Link.
The "curse" of "overtourism" and extreme inequalities. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
Moral Panic and Greek Politics. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
International & European Developments Bulletin #20 | Europe at the Polls – Where is the EU Heading? ENA Institute. Link.
Sliding Away from Unity. University of Oxford - Department of Politics and International Relations (OxPol). Link.
Swift Moves: Tackling Europe's Far-Right Tango with Taylor: Poll to Poll 2024. King’s College London. Link.
Normalisation and Co-existence: extremist tendencies in centre-right factions. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
Party Movement and Authoritarian Tendencies in Greece. ETERON Institute Papers. Link.
Pamphlet No 8: First Thoughts on the 25th June 2023 Election in Greece. PSA Greek Politics. Link.
Pamphlet No 7: First Thoughts on the 21st May 2023 Election in Greece. PSA Greek Politics. Link.
The normalisation of the far-right in Greek politics. ECPR - Illiberalism Paper Series. Link.
The Far-right in Greece and the Parliament. ENA Institute for Alternative Policies Papers. Link.
The Greek Far-Right after Golden Dawn: what’s next? C-REX - University of Oslo. Link.
Outlawing Golden Dawn. European Institute of the Mediterranean Yearbook. Link.