Chapter 3 Arma fero, ergo sum? The European Union, NATO and the Quest for ‘European Identity’

2013 ◽  
pp. 43-71 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union

Kryzys w Unii Europejskiej a tożsamość europejska

2016 ◽  
pp. 110-136
Author(s):  
Zbigniew B. Rudnicki
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Model ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Social Model ◽  
Gradual Development ◽  
Internal Relations ◽  
International Identity

The aim of this article is to show what impact the crisis in the European Union, along with the crisis in the euro zone at the forefront, had on European identity, interwoven with the identity of the European Union to such an extent that these terms are often handled as equivalent. Developments and crises situations which exert an influence on European identity were presented with respect to areas of particular importance that affect the way the European Union is identified within the community and abroad. Following issues were discussed: implications of the crisis for the European Union’s international identity, for the European social model (welfare state), for transnational identity (in internal relations) and for unity and solidarity in the European Union. In the conclusion, it is stated that the economic, political and social crises had undermined the gradual development of European / European Union identity among citizens and had an impact on its image in international relations.

scholarly journals The Symbols Role in the Creation of a European Identity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana-Sabina Prisacariu
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Constitutional Treaty ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
National Symbols ◽  
May Day ◽  
Education Culture

The present paper focuses on the symbolic aspects of the process of formation, sustainment, and change of identity in the European Union. We first establish the role of the symbolisms and symbols in forming links among European citizens and in shaping a European identity.We present a number of initiatives, which have been taken, aimed at forming a collective identity related to the concerns expressed in the recent years over the democratic deficit of the European Union. We consider Andonnino Reports especially significant in this sense through the recommendation of adopting Community symbols. After presenting other activities organized with this aim, in education, culture, and youth fields, we argue that the symbols established by the Constitutional Treaty are the most readily identifiable symbols of integration process.We consider important to have a theoretical presentation of the social and anthropological functions of the symbols. The role of the national symbols of any state is to provide an identity, having at the same time a unifying and a federating power. We show the political implication of the symbols at the level of European citizens. The citizens can be influenced by means of symbols and their symbolisms, to leave aside their differences and act in the common public good. We can conclude that the first important steps to emerging European Union as a new post-national political system (where the national interest coincides with the European interest) have been made. We emphasize how the European symbols such as the flag, the anthem, the motto, the currency, and the Europe Day help to make the European Union more legitimate in the eyes of its citizens by creating emotive images and rites.At the end of the paper, we describe the 9 May Day as a performance of a ritual festivity. We have in mind especially the capacity of this moment to act as a sequence of events within a fixed space and time and to involve simultaneously all stimuli. Our aim is to show how particular aspects of the process of construction of a European identity work in practice, in relation to the symbolic context of ideologies, images, and worldviews.

scholarly journals European Identity and the Challenges of Turkish Accession to the European Union

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Sara Duodu
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Full Membership ◽  
Member States ◽  
Muslim Majority

In 2005, Turkey entered into negotiations for membership with the European Union. Turkey has been an important strategic ally to the European Union in the Middle East, explaining the mutual desire for closer ties between the two. While these negotiations showed promise early on, it has become increasingly apparent that Turkish accession to the European Union will not come easily, if at all. Officially, the European Union cites Turkey’s shortcomings on issues such as human rights as the reason for the stall in negotiations. However, upon closer inspection, it is evident that there is more at play, particularly as the European Union has been inconsistent in their approach to addressing human rights violations. Member states such as Poland and Hungary, which have recent human rights violations, have not faced the same kind of condemnation that Turkey has from the leaders of the European Union. The reality is that the European Union is largely united by its shared Europeanness and Christianity. As a result, due to questions over Turkey’s Europeanness and its large Muslim majority, the European Union is apprehensive to afford it full membership. It can be said that the European Union has maintained that Turkish accession is still possible in order to continue reaping the strategic benefits from close relations with Turkey.

Euro-Centrism vs. International Thinking

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 12-14
Author(s):  
Stefan Fersterer
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Familiar Environment ◽  
The One ◽  
European Citizen

If European people are asked to answer the question, “Which of your different identities has the highest rank in your personal sense: the local, the national or the European?”, a high percentage rate would definitely still report to the two former and only a minority would define themselves primarily as an European citizen. This is no surprise. On the one hand, one defines its identity through that origin, with which he or she has the strongest relation. On the other hand it is extremely difficult for a huge and often aloof entity like the European Union to develop a common European identity that evokes those impressions and sentiments that people combine with their familiar environment.

Gazing at Fiction in Brussels: Europe as Forgery in David Černý's Entropa

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Zigelyte
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Political Institution ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Politics And Culture ◽  
National Stereotypes

This article explores issues of visual representations and the interaction between fiction and reality in the making of the ‘idea of Europe’. It specifically focuses on David Černý's installation Entropa, exhibited at the headquarters of the Council of the European Union in 2009. The article argues that, despite the use of national stereotypes as the most characteristic representational element of the installation, Entropa does not limit itself to a sardonic critique of a political institution and a ridicule of national identities. Rather, it unveils the uneasiness of facing European identity as fiction. Entropa challenges the boundary between theatricality and reality, because it is exhibited in a political institution. The installation is addressed as a narrative of confusion, where fiction and fact interact in the construction of ideas on Europe, its history, politics, and culture. Therefore, the article concludes, such interaction potentially accommodates a critical standpoint towards the idea of Europe itself.

Criminal networks, unfortunate circumstances, or migratory projects? Researching sex trafficking from Eastern Europe

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darja Davydova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Eastern Border ◽  
Methodological Approaches

Eastern Europe constitutes a peripheral space of the European Union, in which political and symbolic belonging of the nations is constantly questioned. As the migration of Eastern Europeans challenges and redefines geographical and symbolic borders, sex trafficking emerges as a politicized issue related to the construction of the European identity and the surveillance of the borders. The research on sex trafficking is frequently employed by policy-makers in order to justify the increasing control of migration over the Eastern border. In this article, I explore the diversity of methodological approaches in recent research on migration for sex work from Eastern Europe and discuss its implications for maintaining physical and symbolic Eastern border of the European Union. I distinguish between different perspectives undertaken by researchers and demonstrate the relation between conceptualization of the problem of sex trafficking, methodological approaches, and the way Eastern Europe is described in research projects.

“My European feelings are not only based on the fact that I live in Europe”

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Krzyżanowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
National Identities ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
European Citizenship ◽  
Identification Processes

Identity has recently become one of the most frequently theorised and explored topics within various sub-branches of social sciences. Collective identities in general, and their ancestry and construction in particular, are being perceived in different ways by historians, anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists and, last but not least, discourse-analysts. This article aims at shedding a new light on the concept of European identity, which, so far, has been most frequently analysed within the context of the European Union and its political and economic impact on European space. Despite drawing theoretically on some well-grounded traditions of research on European identity, such as, e.g., analysis of its contradiction and suplementariness with national identities, or, its interconnection with such concepts as European citizenship or European integration, the analysis of European identity presented here is put in the context of globally understood identification processes. Empirically, the article draws on the analysis of TV talk show thematically bound by the topics concerning European Union’s impact on national identities.

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