Avdikos, V: The Inequality of Difference

This book makes an attempt to explore the ways that the socio-economic trajectory of a locality evolves, through the Gramscian concept of ideological hegemony . The author questions to what extent certain powerful industrial groups can be regarded as local hegemonic blocs, and explores what this might mean for an understanding of the local socio- economic trajectory. Antonio Gramsci s writings are integrated along with Anthony Giddens s Structuration Theory and this integrated theoretical framework constitutes the conceptual platform of the thesis, while the ontological platform is inspired by the relational perspective that views space as an existent alterity and as a medium for action. The conceptual framework is applied and contextualised through empirical research on the function of the tourism industry in two Greek localities (Rhodes and Preveza). The analysis shows that the Gramscian literature may help form a new way to look at the inequality of difference of human perceptions and meanings in time- space, and how these meanings reproduce and sustain specific power relations that legitimate one view of reality over others.