In 1974, people in Greece lived, on average, six and a half years less than today. Births were about twice as many as deaths. The Parliament had a total of seven female members. Only 4 out of 10 Greeks were employed in services. The average temperature in June that year was 20 degrees Celsius. In short, Greece, when it swore in the course that brought it to today, was a very different country.

What has been the trajectory of the issues we are discussing now over the past half-century? How has the demographics, labor, and insurance evolved? How have the institutions and the state changed? What happened in the field of the economy and how did we arrive at the great crisis of the 2010s? How did the country take its current place in Europe and the world? How has the urgent dialogue about the environment been shaped and what has technology changed in our daily lives?

The edition you are holding addresses the period of the Metapolitics not so much as a narrative of significant past events, with obstacles and heroes who won or lost. The last 50 years have been a period of great changes, achievements, but also serious crises, which have made us what we are today and are likely to influence tomorrow.

31 prominent writers provide interesting texts on aspects of Greece over the last 50 years. They analyze notable moments, but mainly frame with their perspective the critical challenges of the future.