Tourism and the perils of an oppositional atmosphere

Using Exarcheia, a neighbourhood in Athens, as our research context, we identify an opposi-tional atmosphere that is encouraging a major growth in anarcho-tourism to the area. We illus-trate how the production and consumption of this unique atmosphere depends on the many grassroots initiatives and anti-authoritarian mobilisations that are predominant in Exarcheia, and how the atmosphere is being threatened by the encroachment of tourism provision. Yet, drawing on Duncombe's (2007) concepts of the ethical spectacle and transmutation, we challenge the co-optation/resistance binary to contemplate whether elements of spectacular consumption can, under specific conditions, be used as tools for progressive social change.Crown Copyright & COPY; 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).