SPEAKING FREELY EU identity needs help from Turkey
By Mirsad Krijestorac
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Recent impudent comments by Pope Benedict XVI regarding Islam have raised
important issues to be examined. The question of European identity most
decisively surfaced in the public sphere when the pope suggested to Le Figaro
magazine that common European identity should be very strongly shaped by the
feeling of necessity to defend itself from invading Islamic forces.
The pope also wished to rejuvenate the old notion of Turks as Asian people,
despite the fact that they have coexisted and
interacted primarily with Europe for the past ten centuries.(1) It is
significant that the doctrinal chief of the Roman Catholic Church thinks and
says this. Is he the only one? Of course not.
This was clearly demonstrated during an audience with Pope Benedict in March
2006, when the leader of the German European People's Party (EPP) proclaimed
that the EU constitution was a "holy text", which in itself refers to a certain
European religious identity. The EPP is the largest, Catholic-dominated,
ecumenical, religio-political bloc in Europe.
The question of Turkish accession to the EU is indicative of many other
uncertainties that resonate among the people of Europe; is the European Union a
simple economic machine or is it a political project? Is it a historical or
geographical reality, or a philosophical project ...? Or, since there is still
no indication of a strong European Union identity, is it simply a deck of
cards? Since the EU is not the whole of Europe, it can neither claim nor rely
only on a general feeling of European belongingness that is by and large felt
among the people who reside in the geographical region. The EU needs much more
to become a real entity and to be viewed as such by the rest of the world,
including Europe. Lack of a clearly emerging EU identity made author Jonathan
Freedman see it as a virtual reality space created by a combination of the wish
of the political elite, and a lack of interest in participatory democracy among
the general European public. He states,
The real salaries of Union
official are considerably higher than those at the national level. And as there
is no clearly defined social project, careers in themselves have become the
modus vivendi of this massive reorganization of European political elites. A
person with such a career is very bound to his or her peers in that system.
Representatives become less important than the position itself. (2)
He attributes these conditions to the phenomenon of vertical polarization
occurring in European countries, creating the situation where a "number of
political and cultural elites are being united and linked to an economic
project of transformational solidarity among such elite that sometimes mistake
themselves for the 'international community'", (2) in this case the European
Community. The author refers to the interviews done in Sweden to try to
understand why the general public in a plebiscite rejected an important step
towards their own further European integration. The conclusion he drew is that
the integration backfired because an inversion of values occurred represented
even in the use of words.
The notion of "people" is associated with
reaction, nationalism with essentialism and racism ... "plebiscite" was [now
being] understood as dangerous, the concept of folkhem was highly suspect, and
the expression "people's will" smelled of the 1930s. (3)
The
Danes voted against the European Monetary Union (EMU), and the Norwegians
rejected the whole concept of integration altogether. When the Swedes rejected
the proposed EMU by over 60%, the prime minister stated he would not allow a
new plebiscite on the EMU for the next several years, to ensure a proper public
educational campaign that would guarantee acceptance next time. Freedman
understood this to mean: "Only the elite know what is best for everyone. Only
they, by definition, are true democrats."
These stratifications of EU communities suggested that the process of
integration is still not over and there is still time to inject new initiatives
and create and strengthen broadly accepted values as the real bond among all
people and nations of Europe.
Render to Caesar ... (4)
Every secular society is based on two sets of rules. The first is the regular
civil law established by political organizations or individuals. Civil law is
usually organized to protect the ruling political system and parties in power;
it is also meant to ensure the efficiency of the economy as well as the state
apparatus.
The second set of rules is known as the Set of Assumed Common Values (SACV).
This set regulates the invisible aspects of society and ensures the smooth
running of daily life. It is established by structures other than the state
apparatus. One such structure in a secular society is religion. Anthropological
functionalists say that religion could be the most decisive factors for this
value set, since religion is, according to Emile Durkheim, glue, soul, and
heart of a society. Religion plays an important role in deliberations even
among those people who may consider themselves secular or agnostic. Ian Buruma
noted, "… secular Europeans who would never set foot in a church or synagogue
often oppose the membership of Turkey in the EU, not just because of problems
with human rights but because it is not Christian." (5) Could the SACV play a
role in this apparent contradiction?
We should examine how the SACV worked in the regionally and culturally diverse
United States, since the example of the US is often mentioned as a model for EU
integration. This SACV was what the federal government apparatus had to fight
to overturn school segregation in the American South in the 1960s.
The strength of the SACV is also apparent in the case of coordinating public
and school holidays that are organized around the Christian religious calendar.
Immigrants may be the only "force" to object to that, but the underdog nature
of the immigrant population identities does not have enough strength for that.
As newcomers increase in numbers and their position changes from immigrant to
members of the diaspora, the dominant SACV is being increasingly challenged.
Since there is no constructive response, this pressure is causing adverse
reactions such as formation of latently fascist Minutemen projects, or in the
building of colossal walls and fences around the country. If this is happening
in a heterogeneous US society, we can only imagine what will happen if this
same SACV perceives itself to be in danger in homogeneous societies in Europe.
This set of rules that regulate life in a non-physical sense touches upon the
basics of daily life, such as diet, and the most complex social interactions.
Illegal immigration is seen as a threat to the SACV because most of the illegal
immigrants are adults with an already established SACV. Often this set clashes
with the dominant set in places where immigrants settle. Because these
immigrants are illegal, they tend to create structures parallel to the actual
state structures, and stay out of the realm of mechanisms created for the
purpose of guarding the SACV. Similarly, the first settlers, the first illegal
immigrants to America, managed to change the dominant way of life on the
continent.
When we examine the case of European integration and the creation of the
European Union we can clearly see the lack of this SACV, especially in view of
recent enlargements. The stress will grow even more if Muslim Turkey, Albania
and Bosnia are to join the European Union, already with its own numerous Muslim
population. (6)
So far, the dominant method of European integration is based upon economic
arrangements with a very cleverly envisioned functionalist system of spillover
where the success of integration in one area will eventually necessitate
integration in other areas. But it is only a matter of time before the SACV
will react and fight back against the spillover that is not in line with it.
The SACV in secularized Muslim Turkey is in many ways in stark opposition to
the SACV in the secularized Christian part of Europe, though most people did
not expect this to be a problem among tolerant-minded Europeans. In a model
European state known for tolerance, the Netherlands, a party won nine seats in
Parliament on a campaign against what it called the "Islamization" of the
country. (7)
In France, the cultural center of Europe, Muslim headscarves were banned in
state schools two years ago, with claims that scarves clash with the "secular
nature", or SACV, of French society. Similar proposals are being mulled in
Germany and other European states. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has said
Islamic women should try to fit into European culture, without explaining what
that culture is. In other words, fit into the SACV which is defined by
Christian ethics. This notion is affirmed in Article I-52 of the EU
constitution, "Status of churches and non-confessional organizations": "3.
Recognizing their identity and their specific contribution, the Union shall
maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with these churches and
organizations."
Only "church" is specifically mentioned and that by itself signals the
privileged place of Roman Catholic Christianity, since it is most strongly
organized around the church. Mentioning the church in the constitution provides
for the Catholic Church to be consulted in the pre-drafting of legislation on a
wide range of matters where the Church feels it has expertise, on any level of
the various EU institutions. A doctrinal note recently made available to the
public, to Catholic policy makers written in 2003 by then Cardinal (now pope)
Ratzinger explained that the old notion of separation of religion and politics
does not mean a separation of morals and politics. It asserted that the
Catholic Church, even with its history of Inquisition, crusades and support of
Hitler and Mussolini, "has the divine, ultimate and legitimate authority to
define the truth on morality and what is right in politics." (8)
This is why Bulgarian Muslims expressed fear of joining the EU and why Bosnian
Muslim leader Dr Mustafa Ceric said: "I wish that Islamophobia that is now in
Europe and in the West will not result in a Muslim Holocaust." (9)
Even though the issue of EU identity is clearly important, it is still not
touched upon in any meaningful way. The union has so far left the issue to
forces like the extreme-right political bloc, "Identity, Tradition and
Sovereignty", that intends to be the "(EU) parliament conscience". Or the issue
of EU identity is left to the "blatantly Marian, Roman Catholic ... Athanaeum
Pontificum Regina Apostolorum (Pontifical University of the Queen of
the Apostles), which has at its heart the promotion of Europe's Roman Catholic
roots". (10)
Powerful organizations are uniting in their efforts to define EU identity as
being primarily Roman Catholic Christian, and they cause anxiety not only among
European Muslims but also among the Orthodox Christians and other
non-Catholics. In fact, Protestant Christian publications are noticing that
"the [Pontifical] University is already pumping out endless publications to
disseminate Benedict's 'Roman Catholic culture of Europe' ideas, and is running
research programs to underwrite it." (10) If these ideas of identity develop
strongly, it will be very hard to change them into something constructive
later.
The real challenges for European integration lie ahead, and the future is far
from certain. The EU is quickly approaching the point where, if these
integrations do not include secularized Muslim Turkey, instead of trying to
find "common ground" the situation will create an opposing overly-competitive
force that would cause these SACV frictions to multiply. Isn't this exactly
what the original European integration had desperately meant to avoid?
The EU is at a stage of conflict. Careful addressing the issue of EU identity
will raise the EU to the level of emergence. (11) This is where the influence
of the culturally pluralistic US could be immeasurably positive. The US should
use all of its weight to support Turkish accession into the EU because
accession will create a very broad space for real cultural diversity that will
be the saving grace for EU democracy and integration.
Turkish membership will also help direct Turkey towards the path of
constructive reforms and improvements of human rights issues in its own
society. The US should assist the EU political leadership to help free itself
completely from "groupthink" (12) and from relying dangerously on outdated
stereotypes to justify its short term needs and positions. The pragmatic US
can, as it did previously in Europe, again play a constructive role and help EU
member states unwind, creating room for growth. Otherwise, refusal to change
its own position may actually create currently non-existing EU rivals, followed
inevitably by the classifying of rivals as enemies. The unipolar,
Christian-only alternative, therefore, could be a huge obstacle preventing the
EU from reaching its full potential.
Notes
(1) "In the course of history, Turkey has always represented a different
continent in permanent contrast to Europe … Making the two continents identical
would be a mistake. It would mean a loss of richness; the disappearance of the
cultural to the benefits of economics … (Turkey) should try to set up a
cultural continent with neighboring Arab countries and become a leading figure
of a culture with its own identity." Cardinal Ratzinger in an interview with
the French Le Figaro, 2004.
(2) Freedman, Jonathan. Globalization, the State, and Violence, p12,
AltaMira Press, 2003.
(3) Freedman, p13.
(4) Bible. King James Version: Mark 12 (15-17)
… bring me a penny, that
I may see it.
And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and
superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him.
(5) Buruma, Ian. "In search of the elusive European soul", Financial Times,
p13. April 2, 2007.
(6) Some Muslim web sources such as Islamonline.net claims the number of
Muslims in western Europe to be around 17 million, but the online edition of
the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post cites Hebrew University Islamic
History Professor Raphael Israeli and his book The Third Islamic Invasion of
Europe in which he notes that about 30 million Muslims currently live
in Europe. See also: Lefkovic, Etgar,
Islam Coverts Change the Face of Europe, The Jerusalem Post.
(9) BBC World Service Radio, March 3, 2007. Interview with Bosnian Muslim
leader aired at 07:30 GMT. Dr Mustafa Ceric: "This Holocaust, even though it
was against the Jewish people at the time, it was more against Europe itself
because Europe now has to live with this Holocaust and apologize for what has
been done. I wish that Islamophobia that is now in Europe and in the West will
not result in a Muslim holocaust."
(12) Janis, Irvin. "Groupthink Theory", in "Theories of Human Communication",
ed Littlejohn, Stephen. Wadsworth Publishing, 1992 (p286).
Mirsad Krijestorac comes from former Yugoslavia and now resides in the
US. In Yugoslavia, he was one of the founders of EXT, the Balkan Multimedia
Association of Arts, and since 1999 he has been a freelance reporter for
various periodicals in the countries of former Yugoslavia, as well as for
American-Bosnian print publications in the US and abroad.
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say.
Pleas e click hereif you are interested in contributing.
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