EU Ordo-Liberalism and Anti-Systemic Movements: The Disruption Potential Combined

• • 
  • Presentation speakers
    • Achim Alan de Merlo, The Graduate Institute, Geneva, Switzerland

  Abstract:

  In the Euroacademia Conference paper, I argue that the current political confronted situation between more Europe or less Europe, which is quite spread across the European Union, can be interpreted as a potential combination of systematic faults and social response uprisings. These two parallel, but interconnected processes, are dividing and escalating the gap between a European mainstream elite and the European citizens left behind along the neoliberal European integration process, as far as it is directed in a “dirigisme” manner from Brussels institutions. In this context, the behaviour of a “good European” does not necessarily means to become succumbed and annihilated by a conflicting and elitist oriented supranational idea of Europe.1 Well the contrary. As an historian, to better solidify and give a base to this socio-political evolution within the EU, I have considered at the core of this paper: Carl Schmitt thinking and Karl Polanyi great transformation theory on social economic factors. The reflection that comes out may be a limited exercise, but will be interesting to discuss further this argument. This is because from different sides we are hearing in the academic milieu that the current European settings are somehow a situation similar to the twenties, and the consequential social response of the thirties of last century. Furthermore, along these lines, even Karl Marx thesis on capitalism has been recently resurrected from dusty bookshelves. Predicting such critical situation to happen, anyway soon or later, in the development of liberal capitalism. However, without taking these statements for granted, as right or wrong, the reflection in the conference paper tries to present if such methodological approach is consistent enough to analyse the current situation across Europe today. In other words, if the situation presented by scholars and in particular in the media today reflects, per-consequence, a social-psychological transformation that Europe has already experienced a century ago. I also conclude in proposing a tentative possible solution to the problem of divergence and discontent that is currently locking the progress of European integration.

 

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