European Culture as a Mirage

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  • Presentation speakers
    • Diederick Slijkerman, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
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    • Diederick Slijkerman - European Culture as a Mirage.pdf

  Abstract:

  Is there a European culture? For this question research is done in literature about the history of the United Kingdom, France and Germany in the 20th century. How do politicians, journalists and scientists think about Europe? Can we speak of European traditions and mentality? Or, are national traditions still dominating? Which kind of perceptions exist about Europe? There are different kinds of motives for striving towards a European identity, such as economic, political, cultural and social ones. It is argued that a European culture in effect does not exist. If we speak of a European culture we, at the utmost, mean Western culture. Europe is a chimera. E.g. in health, immigration or policy each Member State makes a choice of its own. European unity is cooperation for economic and political motives, strategic in origin and purpose. The European institutions do not have legitimate grounds. In that sense, Brexit can be conceived as a natural reaction and exemplary of the meaning of European culture at a national level.

 

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