The 2007/08 capitalist crisis severely affected the socio-economic conditions in the majority of the developed economies. In the spatially uneven mosaic of the crisis’ effects, the European Union peripheral economies recorded a deep recession. This paper explains why Greece is the European Union country that was most acutely affected, seeking to theorize the political economy of crisis evolution. It does so, by adopting a Marxist perspective on the crisis in Greece to examine the interplay of base (structures) with superstructure (institutions), linking production with society, culture, regulation and politics. It highlights the specificities of the Greek political economy and the particularities of the application of the neoliberal project in Greece.