The social structure and the process of assimilation of the Greek community in South Africa

Bibliography: pages 203-216. ; The primary aim of this study is to explore the social structures of the Greek ethnic minority in South Africa, and the process of assimilation and integration of this minority within this particular society. The study is divided into four chapters, each having its own importance. In the first chapter, there is a synoptic picture of the different stages of Greek emigration abroad, the analysis of the push factors and causes of this phenomenon, and its consequences for the Greek economy and society. The second chapter deals with the historical background of the Greek immigrants in the country, with the main focus on the educational and occupational mobility of the younger generations as well as the intra-generational mobility among Greek immigrants of all periods. Chapter Three deals with the process of assimilation and absorption of Greek immigrants of all generations into South African society (focusing mainly on the integration of the younger generations of South African born Greeks), and the consequences of this absorption at all levels. This chapter deals with the socialisation process taking place in the South African school which is a major socialisation factor; and the contradictory functions of the South African school and the Greek family, environment, and the Greek Orthodox Church, functioning as contra-factors towards the structural assimilation of the younger Greek generations in the country. Finally, the last chapter deals with the class composition of the Greek immigrants in South Africa, with the main focus on their present economic position and their ideological and political attitudes. The increasing phenomenon of the alienation of the Greek middle-class immigrants in the country is also dealt with in this chapter.