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1

Deliberations in a Melancholic Mood on a European Identity

100%

Markiewicz B. A.

Civitas. Studia z filozofii polityki (Civitas. Studies on politics philosophy)

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2006

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issue 9

20-40

EN

Two political models of a European identity identifiable in contemporary theoretical discourse and subscribing to this mood are the Greek model, 'being-in-oneself' and the Roman model, 'being-through-others'. The first model is characterised primarily by the capability of absorbing outside influences and the ability to transform them in one's own achievements. This type of assimilation, that is, the recognition of that which is ours in that which is alien, the inhabitants of Hellas made the core of their identity. The capability of assimilation can be seen especially in the particular Hellenic relationship with the earth, described, for example, by Homer in The Odyssey. This demonstrates that the Hellenics developed their identity not through confrontation, but through the reflective recognition of the self in that which is alien, or as Hegel said, 'being-in-oneself'. The second, Roman, model in antithesis to the Greek 'being-in-oneself' is based on abstract community, is lawful and mediated via things. In this sense, citizenship becomes a question of belonging rather than of a sense of community. Political identity becomes something formal. This means that such identity ceases to be possible as a common self-definition, a collective self-knowledge and, to an ever-greater degree, it becomes a matter for the authority alone. It is forged by 'being-through-others', in other words, primarily through political structures. Picking out the two main models of building an identity which are present in European tradition should make us aware that today's endeavours relating to attempts to construct a new kind of identity are risky. This risk does not lie merely in the necessity of selecting a specific discourse and language concerning identity, which always unilaterally narrows the description, but is already hidden in the very narrative itself.

2

Borders and Territory in Europe. A Process of Forming the Concepts and Their Meaning

63%

Trojanowska-Strzeboszewska M.

Civitas. Studia z filozofii polityki (Civitas. Studies on politics philosophy)

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2006

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issue 9

40-68

EN

The current borders of European nation states are losing many of their functions to date and are ceasing to be borders of a merely political character. The role of non-state and non-governmental institutions is increasing. These processes incline to the questioning of the character and function of the newly-forming types of political borders. In order to answer these questions, one should reach for the classical understanding of 'territory', 'border' and 'state', from ancient times (the Roman Empire), via the Middle Ages and the French Revolution up to contemporary times. The result of this analysis demonstrates that territory as a space held within a legal framework is an essence and defines the character of statehood. It carries with it several consequences such as the territory's becoming an area over which extends the defined authority of the state, or that within the borders of its territory, the state has a monopoly on the exercise of authority. Hence the conclusion that borders are a basic political institution which organises the space for running the politics and activities of the state. The subsequent element of the analysis is the functions which borders fulfil. There are five: defensive, legal, economic, ideological and socio-psychological. Finally, it appears that borders are intricate and multi-functional phenomena which results in their fulfilling ever more manifold functions. They are agencies of sovereignty and security, institutions of social constraint and symbols of the diverse economic and political situations of states.

3

Europe as a Fiction

63%

Filipowicz S.

Civitas. Studia z filozofii polityki (Civitas. Studies on politics philosophy)

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2006

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issue 9

9-20

EN

A comparison of the United States of America and the European Union indicates a clear difference. In the USA, in spite of ever-more frequent warnings of disintegration, there exists a defined political nation and the face of American patriotism is still very clear. In Europe, despite the lack of a political nation, an omnipresent optimism dominates. There, in the public arena, a naive and noisy fiction has appeared which, usurping high dignity, imposes itself as a meritorious wisdom. Such, indeed, is the meaning of 'Europe' and 'Europeans', propagating with great fervour the notion of unity. For unity is a truth created by politicians, a project confirming the great power of imagination. Modernity has given rise to great temptations to glorify imagination and the European project has clear roots in the Enlightenment. However, both the writings of Europe's 'Founding Fathers' as well as works by historiographers and political philosophers point up the lack of a homogeneous concept of a European identity. Unity has only now become an aim and a task to be carried out. Adherents of unification persuade us that it is an unquestionable aim, serving the accomplishment of the most commendable rules and values. In this way, the project has become reality and its opponents are named 'Utopians'. Since reality has lost its meaning, what is important in the essence is only that which concurs with the 'anointed' view, which has been legitimised by thought set upon the pedestal of authority.

4

TODAY'S CENTRAL EUROPE - A 'COMMONWEALTH OF FOUR NATIONS'?

51%

Debicki M.

Przegląd Zachodni

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2007

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issue 2(323)

47-61

EN

The article focuses on certain socio-political developments across Poland's eastern border (among others - the so-called orange revolution in Ukraine or Russia's policy towards its western neighbours), which occasion another - to all likelihood not the last - debate on the character of Central Europe. The Commonwealth of Four Nations which appears in the title, is conceived of in highly abstract and symbolic terms, and has the function of a 'keystone' for a similar situation or similar problems faced by Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, which does not mean that this 'construct' is free from social tensions. The central European context includes also the issue of different visions of history among the old and new members of the European Union. In connection with a lack of clear stance on the part of the EU on cultural issues this significantly complicates the creation on purely social grounds of a common plane for the prospective European identity.

5

THE MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO REGIONAL AND NATIONAL IDENTITIES IN SPAIN: SOME CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY

51%

Grad H., Ros M., Garcia-Albacete G., Rodriguez-Monter M.

Sociológia (Sociology)

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2004

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vol. 36

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issue 3

219-236

EN

European, Spanish, and regional identities were studied as part of a wider research survey of youth beliefs and experiences regarding the European Union. The research was conducted in the capital city (Madrid) and the Basque Country (Bilbao). At each location, representative and European-oriented youth samples (N=400 and N=100 each) of 18-24 years (50% female) were gathered. The interviewees were asked about their perception of border countries as included in Europe, and to rate different feasible meanings of the EU, its impact (at personal, regional, and country levels), and different cognitive, affective and evaluative aspects of European, Spanish and regional identities. Regarding European borders, Turkey was the only country most interviewees did not perceive as part of or belonging to Europe. Geography, membership in the EU and, above all, the Euro currency emerged as the most salient features of meaning for Europe (beyond shared values and traditions). The European Union was perceived as having a positive, but small impact for the person, moderate for the region, and greater impact for the country of Spain. The identity patterns were similar in most of their aspects: In Madrid, the Spanish identity was the most important, the importance of regional identity was similar to it, and the identification with Europe was moderate, the least important. In Bilbao, the identification with the Basque Country was the strongest, while Spanish and European identities were related and came out of 'little' importance. Older interviewees presented stronger European identity in the pro-European but weaker in the general sample. Finally, interviewees considered themselves only 'sometimes' as a 'European citizen' with no significant difference by Region, Age or Gender group.These relationships seem to reflect the configuration of different levels of social identity. The hegemony of different nationalist orientations led to a distinct meaning of national identity in each region (Spain in Madrid but the Basque Country in Bilbao). Thus, instead of a continuum of social category inclusiveness (as suggested by Brewer 1991), the results show different breaches between levels of social categories and identities - between Basque and higher levels in Bilbao and between Spanish and higher levels in Madrid. Summing up, the identity level reflecting the dominant national identity seems to function as a basic category distinctively organizing the whole identity configuration.The impact of the European Union was perceived as much stronger for the country (Spain) than for the region and the person. Madrid and pro-European samples perceived stronger impact on the less inclusive categories. Beyond the different identity configurations, these patterns suggest a relationship between the weak perceived impact of the European Union on levels closer to the person and the weak identification with Europe. Finally, though interviewees did not recall learning a lot about the European Union at school, this perception, as well as the experience of visiting other European countries and mastering European languages, was enhanced in the younger and the pro-European sample (and among Bilbao respondents). Thus, personal and social experiences would reinforce the perceived impact of the European Union at the personal level and certainly contribute to reinforce a shared European identity beyond national-regional nuances in the Spanish context.

6

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF OLD BORDERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF NEW ONES. BORDERLAND AS A SITUATION OF EXCLUSION

51%

Tujdowski M.

Przegląd Zachodni

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2008

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issue 3(328)

161-170

EN

The author draws attention to certain subsidiary processes connected with the 'opening' of borders, mainly as part of a larger process of European integration. The opening of borders met with criticism as in several cases it paradoxically led to exclusion. Firstly, a regularity was noticed that the smaller the border restrictions inside a given area (here: the European Union), the stricter the border regime on its outskirts. At a certain point, division into the centre and peripheries contributed to an evaluative approach to countries and societies by creating an elite club for members (of the European Union) and all the other states that aspired to membership. Another aspect concerns migration movements, but also small-scale cross-border traffic or the traffic of national minorities. For the above mentioned categories of people, tightening up borders has led to problems with entering the territory of the European Union. Especially immigrants from outside Europe must take into account serious obstacles in the form of a system of physical barriers and blockades. The third aspect concerns a civilization criterion which is becoming clearly visible in the course of demarcation of the new borders of Europe. Despite a declared promotion of multiculturalism, the limes of Europe have more or less consciously been drawn along the borderline of Christian Europe. Controversy surrounding Turkey's candidacy can be seen as a litmus test in the debate on European identity built on the basis of civilizational affiliation. According to the author, new aspects of exclusion by borders and borderlands (which turned out not to be open as wide as initially declared) were insufficiently represented in the discussion on the effects of European integration.

38%

Niedźwiedzki D.

Studia Europejskie-Studies in European Affairs

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2010

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issue 2

90-116

EN

The process of European integration contributes to the intensification of migration movement of Polish society. The article discusses different forms and levels of pendulum migrants’ identities and confronts them with variable models of European integration. Generally speaking, Polish migrants support participation in European structures. How should, then, common Europe look like according to our respondents? How should the process of European integration proceed? Should this be “Europe of homelands”, European federation or deliberative democracy model which assumes universal public sphere to arise on a scale broader than just Europe? Emigrant experiences influenced our respondents’ identity in such a way that we are able to clearly define local, national, European and universal levels of identification. Cultural complexity of pendulum migration entails reinforcement of various levels of identification in different situations. Local – in effect of longing for homeliness of everyday life lost after moving to a foreign social space in emigration. The level of national identification is reinforced by facing other ethnic cultures and other languages. It can be observed that the European identity of migrants is developed as an effect of adopting cultural elements from other national groups and by the emergence of a sense of belonging to one big cultural entirety. Last but not least, universal (common to all mankind) identity, especially in the case of those whose experiences result from staying in different countries and communities, can be seen arising from migrants’ contact with cultural diversity. It emerges as a simple reflection that indeed people are different.

17

KWESTIA UCHODŹCÓW W KONTEKŚCIE WYZWAŃ DLA UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ

26%

Mach Z., Styczyńska N.

Studia Migracyjne - Przegląd Polonijny

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2016

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vol. 42

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issue 4 (162)

23–34

PL

Kryzys uchodźczy nie jest pierwszym, który w ostatnich dekadach dotknął Europę, ale to on właśnie ukazał wyraźnie podział na Wschód i Zachód. Wielu myślało, że podział ten przestał już istnieć, jednak napływ uchodźców spoza Europy ujawnił wielkie różnice pomiędzy państwami członkowskimi UE i polityką ich rządów. W szczególności państwa tzw. nowej Unii wydają się zdecydowanie przeciwne przyjmowaniu uchodźców i jest to głównie spowodowane postrzeganiem przybyszów jako nadmiernie kulturowo odmiennych, by mogli zintegrować się ze społeczeństwem goszczącym. Państwa Europy Wschodniej wydają się rozumieć wspólnotę narodową jako konstrukt etniczny, wobec czego wykluczają z jej obrębu osoby odmienne kulturowo. Odmowa przyjęcia uchodźców jest również sygnałem o braku solidarności, nie tylko z uchodźcami, ale także z innymi państwami Unii Europejskiej, które z racji swojego położenia są bardziej narażone na ich napływ. Tożsamość europejska w nowych państwach członkowskich jest wciąż w procesie tworzenia, a obecnie opiera się raczej na poczuciu odnoszenia korzyści (głównie ekonomicznych) z członkostwa w UE niż na poczuciu wspólnoty kulturowej.

EN

The migration crisis was not the first that stroke Europe in the recent years but this is the one which confirmed the existence of East-West divide of which many though that has already disappeared. In former post-communist Europe there is a widespread and strong resistance to accepting refugees, mostly caused by the perception of refugees as culturally alien. In the background it seems to be the still prevailing understanding of nation as an ethnic community, which leads to exclusion of cultural others as members of community. The rejection of asylum seekers shows the lack of solidarity not only with asylum seekers themselves, but also with other European nations which are struggling with the crisis. In this way the migration crisis reveals the low level of collective European identity in, but not only, Central and Eastern European countries. European identity among the new members of the EU is mainly based on the expectation of practical, mainly financial gains rather than on a feeling of belonging to one social and cultural community.

Refine search results

Deliberations in a Melancholic Mood on a European Identity

Borders and Territory in Europe. A Process of Forming the Concepts and Their Meaning

Europe as a Fiction

TODAY'S CENTRAL EUROPE - A 'COMMONWEALTH OF FOUR NATIONS'?

THE MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO REGIONAL AND NATIONAL IDENTITIES IN SPAIN: SOME CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF OLD BORDERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF NEW ONES. BORDERLAND AS A SITUATION OF EXCLUSION

EUROPE'S BORDERS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF MYTHOLOGY AND 'NOMOS' AND THE EU ENLARGEMENT

SIMPLE REASONS FOR COMPLEX ISSUES OF NATIONAL VS. EUROPEAN IDENTITY IN THE PROCESS OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: ITALIAN CASE

AKTIVNÍ HRANICE A EVROPEIZACE VEŘEJNÉ SFÉRY. JAK „STEJNÝ“ MŮŽE BÝT I „JINÝ“ A NAOPAK

VALUE CONTEXT OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES IN CHANGING EUROPE

THE LIMITS OF LEGITIMATION. PRECONDITIONS FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION BY MAJORITY RULE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

SOCIOLOGICKÁ REFLEXE EVROPSKÉ INTEGRACE

NATIONAL COMMUNITIES AS THE SPACE OF VALUE PRESERVATION AND TRANSFORMATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PARTICULARISM AND UNIVERSALISM (THE ISSUE OF NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN IDENTITY)

Formování pozitivních identit mezi minulostí a budoucností. Příspěvek k projektu evropské identity

EURÓPSKA ÚNIA V POSTOJOCH A NÁZOROCH MLADÝCH ĽUDÍ NA SLOVENSKU

Migracja i tożsamość europejska. Polscy migranci niepełni wobec procesu integracji europejskiej

KWESTIA UCHODŹCÓW W KONTEKŚCIE WYZWAŃ DLA UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ