What Holds Europe Together?
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.
Introduction:
Krzysztof Michalski
The Work of the Reflection Group on the Spiritual and Cultural Dimension of Europe
Bronislaw Geremek (Warsaw)
Thinkin about Europe as a Community
Kurt Biedenkopf (Dresden)
“United in Diversity”: What Holds Europe Together?
Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde (Freiburg)
Conditions for European Solidarity
Heather Grabbe (London)
What Hope for Solidarity in the Enlarged Union?
Janos Matyas Kovacs (Vienna / Budapest)
Between Resentment and Indifference—Narratives of Solidarity in the Enlarging Union
Jacques Rupnik (Paris)
The European Union’s Enlargement to the East and Solidarity
Kurt Biedenkopf, Bronislaw Geremek, Krzysztof Michalski and Michel Rocard
What Holds Europe Together?
Comments
Samuel Abrahám
Needed but Uncertain Cohesion
Giuliano Amato
On the Spiritual and Cultural Dimension of Europe
Rainer Bauböck
Intersecting and overlapping European cultures
Ján Čarnogurský
It is Necessary to Believe in Europe
Ute Frevert
Does Europe need a cultural identity? Ten critical remarks