What Holds Europe Together?

✍ Scribed by Krzysztof Michalski

• Publisher: Central European University Press
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 198
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The book addresses contemporary developments in European identity politics as part of a larger historical trajectory of a common European identity based on the idea of 'solidarity.' The authors explain the special sense in which Europeans perceive their obligations to their less fortunate compatriots, to the new East European members, and to the world at large. An understanding of this notion of 'solidarity' is critical to understanding the specific European commitment to social justice and equality. The specificity of this term helps to distinguish between what the Germans call "social state" from the Anglo-Saxon, and particularly American, political and social system focused on capitalism and economic liberalism. This collection is the result of the work of an extremely distinguished group of scholars and politicians, invited by the previous President of the European Union, Romano Prodi, to reflect on some of the most important subjects affecting the future of Europe.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction
Thinking about Europe as a Community
“United in Diversity”: What Holds Europe Together?
Conditions for European Solidarity
What Hope for Solidarity in the Enlarged Union?
Between Resentment and Indifference: Narratives of Solidarity in the Enlarging Union
The European Union’s Enlargement to the East and Solidarity
What Holds Europe Together? Concluding Remarks
COMMENTS
Needed but Uncertain Cohesion
Building Europe
Intersecting and Overlapping European Cultures
It is Necessary to Believe in Europe
Does Europe Need a Cultural Identity? Ten Critical Remarks
Solidarity on Trial
Europe—Still Divided
Reflections on Solidarity
Europe’s Solidarity Deficit
Turkey’s EU Membership as a Litmus Test of European Self-Confidence
European and Global Solidarity
What Distinguishes Europe?
European Culture, an Ambivalent Heritage
Solidarity and Freedom
Europe is not Europe is not Europe
Making Barbecue in the European Garden
Solidarity under Threat
Islam in Europe
United Europe, Divided History
List of Contributors