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Challenges to Union

Challenges to Union. Ethnicity and National Identity in Europe. Key Terms. State Nation Ethnic Group State-Nation Ethnic-Nation. Ethnie. Nation. State. Ethnonationalism. Territorial ethnic movements seeking autonomy or independence peripheral to the union – OR – pro-Europe

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Challenges to Union

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  1. Challenges to Union Ethnicity and National Identity in Europe

  2. Key Terms • State • Nation • Ethnic Group • State-Nation • Ethnic-Nation Ethnie Nation State

  3. Ethnonationalism • Territorial ethnic movements seeking autonomy or independence • peripheral to the union – OR – • pro-Europe • 'Europe of the regions' • No threat to EU

  4. 'Europe of the nations' • Different type of ethnicity and nationalism • Pose a challenge to the EU • Dominant Nationhood • Ethnic minorities/immigrant minorities • Dominant ethnicity

  5. The EU: A cosmopolitan project • Long idea of establishing a realm of 'universal' law and governance in Europe • Began with the 'European Idea' of reunifying the continent under one church and one empire • Collapse of Roman Empire and the rise of the Reformation led to periodic attempts • Sully, Podiebrad – seek comity among nations and return to Latin-Christendom ideal

  6. Enlightenment Europeanism • Penn, Diderot, Paine, St Simon and others • Were cosmopolitan liberals • Europeanism and cosmopolitanism linked • Favoured Europeanism as a ticket to peace, prosperity and Enlightenment • St Simon claims in 1821 that Europeanism as a sentiment already took precedence over nationalism • St Simon sees Anglo-French hub as motor of Europe • End to Papal and Roman dreams; harmony among peoples rather than rulers

  7. The Evolution of the European Idea • Napoleon speaks of one European fatherland • After Napoleonic Wars, St Simon's ideas influential and popular. Influenced Lemonnier's Les Etats-Unis d'Europe (1872) • Revival of interest in St Simon after WWI • Most schemes were federal, though some post-WWI radicals rejected the nation outright • Paneuropa (1923) and other organisations lobby • Link between world unity and European unity, between peace organisations and paneuropean ones

  8. Diplomatic Pressure of Paneuropean Groups • Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi writes Pan-Europa (1923) manifesto. Links to French politicians like Herriot, Loucheur, Leger, Briand • Edouard Herriot, 1925: 'My greatest wish is to see one day the United States of Europe become a reality' • First Pan-European Congress, 1926. Sponsored by Chancellor Seipel of Austria • Many Paneuropeans also strongly supported the League of Nations • Briand's Memorandum on a European Federal System (1930) circulated to European statesmen

  9. EU structure • Degree of centralisation varies by function: • A Federation (i.e. 'State') in monetary affairs, agricultural, trade and environmental policy. Also in legal-social aspects and citizenship • A Confederation in social and economic policy, consumer protection, internal affairs • An International Organisation in foreign affairs

  10. Council of Europe's Cultural Cosmopolitanism • Developed European flag with 12 golden stars (1955) • Established 5 May 1949 as Europe Day (1964) • Anthem based on Beethoven's Ode to Joy (1972) • Has 46 members today: distinct from EU, but complementary

  11. Three Types - Three Challenges • Dominant Nationhood (civic nationalism) • Ethnic minorities or Immigrant Minorities • Dominant ethnicity (ethnic nationalism)

  12. Dominant Nationhood • (civic nationalism) • Fears loss of sovereignty, • loss of economic policy • Loss of political-legal efficacy and national democracy • Foreign policy identity depends on the country

  13. France: Gaullist pro-Europeanism • Seeks to reclaim French cultural predominance of 18th-19th c • Seeks to challenge Anglo-Saxon hegemony of 19th-20th c • Sees Anglo-Saxon west as ‘other’ • De Gaulle positions France at the heart of a Europe that includes Russia and is flanked by Anglo-Saxon West and Chinese East • 1963 crisis over UK entry into EEC which De Gaulle seeks to block UK entry

  14. German pro-European Idealism • Nazi period discredits nationalism • Cosmopolitan as opposed to Gaullist spirit • Desire for influence and self-respect without nationalism • Less anti-Anglo-Saxon due to post-WWII (witness different attitudes toward English as language) • More truly cosmopolitan than French pro-Europeanism

  15. Smaller Nations: Benelux • History of neutrality and fear of larger nations • History of pooling sovereignty in alliances • Only chance of agency is through a larger unit • Identity is less significant in absence of larger blocks • Belgium and Luxembourg lack clear linguistic or religious markers of nationhood unlike say Germany or France

  16. Views of Unification (1995)

  17. Growing Cosmopolitanism in Europe?

  18. Growing Cosmopolitanism in Europe…

  19. Growing Cosmopolitanism in Europe…

  20. Do you feel national, European or Both (2004)?

  21. Ethnic minorities/immigrant minorities - • Religious beliefs may challenge Enlightenment beliefs • EU identity diluted (i.e. 'from Tsar to Sultan') • Strengthens dominant ethnicity

  22. Immigrant Integration • Different paths to integration • In UK, second generation is doing much better (esp. Hindu, Chinese) • UK: Intermarriage more among Afro-Caribs than Indo-Pakistani • UK & Holland: Caribbean Christians & 'Indos' better integrated than Muslim ethnic groups • Evidence of racial segregation in friendships

  23. 'Superdiversity'?: Inflow by region UK 2001 Source: Home Office

  24. Newham (London) by country of birth, 2001

  25. Religious Retention among Second Generation Immigrant Stock in the UK

  26. Dominance: Ethnic, National, or State? • A group can be BOTH ethnic and national (ie. Welsh in Wales) • A group can be ethnic, national, and possess its own state (ie. Japanese) • Dominant Ethnic groups can dominant states or sub-state nations (ie. Ethnic Germans in Germany, Scots-Protestants in Scotland, Jews in Israel)

  27. Dominant Ethnic Group • Ethnic Community which possesses political power in a given state • 2 types: • Elite Minority (Tutsi, ‘WASP’, Gulf Arab) • Majority Group (English in England, Japanese in Japan) • Most in Europe are dominant majorities • Omission in Current Literature

  28. Dominant Ethnicity • (mainly ethnic nationalism) • Fear of internal migration • Possible cultural fears (language, religion) • Ethno-national congruence • Friction with OSCE codes, multiculturalism and EU human rights conventions • Expressed as rise of the far right & accommodation by centre-right parties

  29. Dominant Ethno-Nationalism • Ethno-national congruence • Fear of immigration • Possible cultural fears (language, religion) • Friction with OSCE codes, multiculturalism and EU human rights conventions • Expressed as rise of the far right & accommodation by centre-right parties

  30. A Rising Force?

  31. The Role of Education & Age, Germany

  32. The Far Right as a Worker's Party? • Anti-elitist, anti-political class • Claim that elite consensus 'represses' debate on immigration • In virtually no European country does main left-wing party retain majority support among white male workers

  33. Dominant Ethno-Nationalism: Theories • Instrumentalist - dominant ethno-nationalism is driven by immigrant competition with natives for jobs • Ethno-symbolist - perceived violation of ‘sacred,’ historicised ethnie-nation link is the key • ‘Constructivist’ (Psychological) - Rapid change brings disorientation and a quest for order among those affected by change

  34. Multiculturalism • Kymlicka's Liberalism, Community and Culture (1989), followed by a number of works in 1990s • Taylor's Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition (1994) • Inspired partly by 'multicultural' movement of minorities for 'recognition' vis a vis majority culture in Canada • Canadian multiculturalism policy dates from 1971, similar demands in US since late 60s

  35. Typology of Multiculturalism

  36. Cosmopolitan-multiculturalist vision • Dominant ethnic groups lose identity and members become cosmopolitan individualists • Ethnic minorities retain their identity and provide consumer choice and 'colour' • Bourne, c. 1916: WASPs 'breathe a larger air', Jews 'stick to their faith' • Contradiction: cosmopolitanism among hosts, ethnicity among immigrants

  37. The New Cultural Cosmopolitanism • European idea was mainly one of political unity rather than cultural unity • American idea had a much earlier emphasis on melting (i.e. Crevecoeur's 'strange mixture of races', c. 1782) • But Europe has now adopted the cultural cosmopolitanism once found only in America

  38. The EU and Cultural Cosmopolitanism • EU approach: Multiculturalism, Human Rights, Border Control - in tension. • Reflects tensions between cosmopolitan and realpolitik/intergovernmental spheres • Multiculturalism and human rights reflects cosmopolitan side

  39. Cosmopolitanism for Majorities • All become consumers and world citizens • Weak identities, apart from European project, lifestyle and egalitarian-liberalism • Identity forged vs USA. Defined by liberal egalitarianism, i.e. 'European Dream' (Rifkin) • Hope given by rise in university education, generational replacement • Effect shown in social surveys

  40. The Reaction to Multiculturalism • Dominant ethnic nationalists resist all forms of multiculturalism • Surveys show that anti-immigration and anti-EU attitudes are linked • Even those who are willing to accept immigrants are afraid of threat to secular culture, language and civic-national identity • A majority of most electorates

  41. 90s Intellectual Opposition • Individualist Liberals (i.e. Brian Barry, Michael Ignatieff) • Civic Nationalists (David Miller, David Goodhart, New Labour, Francis Fukuyama, etc) • 'Civic Nationalist' Critiques: • Hinders welfare state • Reduces civic trust and political participation • Decline in common values and national identity • Increased ethnic conflict • Ethnic Nationalists: threat to survival of dominant ethnic groups, 'reverse discrimination'

  42. Multiculturalism in Retreat • Multiculturalism in retreat in the US and Australia in the 1990s • Changes in France, Holland, and elsewhere in Europe (partly linked to challenge from far right) since 1990s • Change in Britain (criticism of Parekh report; Trevor Phillips of CRE) in 2000-2004 (linked to 9/11)

  43. The Return of Assimilation • An attempt to navigate between ethnic nationalism and multiculturalism • Ethnic conflict prompts increased call for national unity in the face of diversity (i.e. Germany, Holland, UK, France) • Hopes are for integration into nations, reducing inter-ethnic conflict • Shift from multiculturalism to integration. Even a return of assimilation/republicanism and civic nationalism

  44. Civic or Liberal Nationalism • From Kohn (1944) to Miller (1995) and Tamir (1993) • Civic nationalism will reinforce resistance to EU as nations become more 'American' • Will not assuage anxieties of dominant group • Minorities must organically come to feel attachment to the nation, cannot be cajoled out of old identities • Civic identities must be universal and thin, difficult to compete with ethnic traditions

  45. Dominant groups will not go away, Minorities may not assimilate • Dominant groups may reject newcomers entirely • Assimilation a long-term process. European and US examples • May not be fast enough to absorb immigrants or respond to demographic crisis • Real key is at the level of the dominant ethnic group, and its ability to assimilate • Ethnic groups should not be rigid, but retain their cores and engage in assimilation

  46. Liberal Ethnicity (Kaufmann 2000) • Recognition of both minority and dominant ethnic groups • Devolves task of assimilation to ethnic groups • Longer-term view • Ethnic cores remain relatively fixed, but boundaries can absorb newcomers • No coercive state-nationalism from above

  47. A Europe of Liberal Nations • Need to consider better guarantees of ontological security: including limits on migration between member states • EU as Europe of nations, pooling many functions • Recognition of both dominant and minority ethnic groups • May in time lead to closer political integration

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