The lost sailors of Piraeus: crisis, racism and ordinary politics in a working-class Athens suburb

International audienceIn Athens since 2011, austerity policies have been accompanied by political violence from the extreme-right and the police. Immigrants are among the main targets, especially as very strict European border control policies have turned Greece into a gateway for migrants, both legal and illegal, and have strengthened national xenophobic policies founded in an essentialist conception of identity. Constituting " migrants " as a national problem also reflects the Greek state's authoritarian legacy. This article explores these phenomena through a socio-spatial lens, focusing on Keratsini, a working-class neighborhood in the western suburbs of Athens. Its particular political and migration history influences the mix of competition and violence in the relations between its Greek residents and immigrants – many of them Egyptians working in the fish sector – but also the existence of solidarity in response to the state's authoritarian practices and economic austerity