On Tuesday, March 3, Nikos Papastergiadis welcomed the world-renowned economist and General Secretary of MERA 25, Yanis Varoufakis, back to the Greek Centre in Melbourne.
This was Varoufakis’ third visit to the Greek Centre. He first appeared in 2012 to discuss the global financial crisis, and returned in 2020 for a special screening and Q&A of Adults in the Room. On this occasion, he returned to launch his new book, Raise Your Soul.
Varoufakis came into the public spotlight as a commentator on the Global Financial Crisis. He has the rare gift in clearing away economistic jargon, presenting clear accounts of causes and consequences, and providing vivid analogies so that the rest of us could make sense of the chaos.
His book Adults in the Room, which was adapted as a film by the legendary Costa Gavras, provided a unique view into the secret process of deliberation and deal making in the EU. It was a chilling and depressing exposé of both the democracy deficit and intellectual corruption of our political institutions.
In his new book, Raise Your Soul, Varoufakis tells the story of five women, whose courage and wisdom were inspirational in his life.
Varoufakis is often described as the smartest guy in the room, but at the Greek Center he had more than Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde and Ursula von der Leyen in the room. He was before a panel of three young and brilliant Greek Australian women. They included:
- Maya Papastergiadis, a final year Psychology and Media and Communication student at the University of Melbourne.
- Charisa Bossinakis, a Melbourne-based stand-up comedian, she has performed sold-out shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Sydney Comedy Festival and starred in ABC’s Urvi Went to an All Girls School.
- Sophia Menidis, a bookseller and prolific book reviewer who recently completed her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne.
The conversation began by a series of questions on what motivated Varoufakis to write this book. He described the sense of depression he felt after a series of electoral defeats and growing force of authoritarianism in the world. His own spirits were lifted when he recalled the rallying call issued by his grandmother: ‘raise your soul’. He then added that he wanted to write the book in honour of the older women in his family and also for his daughter.
“I want her to know the story of the women who came before her. I was conscious that these stories were not recorded anywhere else, and that if I didn’t tell them they would evaporate,” he said.
Varoufakis was also asked to elaborate on the experience of being a man writing about the lives of women. He replied by describing the strong role played by the women in his life, and the positive example of having a father who was totally supportive of his wife’s feminist politics.
Varoufakis admitted that his own socialisation at school and the workplace was an “ongoing struggle against misogyny”.
The discussion over the course of the evening was both intimate and compelling. Varoufakis concluded by expressing that he was “moved” by the warmth and intelligence of the audience gathered at the Greek Centre.
