Aydınlanma, Avrupalı Kimliği ve Göçmen Karşıtı Söylem

Öz

Modern Avrupalı kimliğinin oluşumunda, 18. yüzyılda Avrupa’da ortaya çıkan Aydınlanma düşüncesinin gerek tarihsel gerekse ideolojik bağlamda önemli bir rolü vardır. Aydınlanma’nın tartışmalı mirası, bir yanda dini dogmalardan kurtuluş, rasyonel düşünme, hoşgörü, özgürlük gibi değer ve ilkeleri temsil eden, diğer yanda ise diğer ulusları medeniyet ve insanlık temelinde “aşağıda” konumlandıran, sömürgeleştirilmelerinde ve köleleştirilmelerinde sakınca görmeyen kompleks bir düşünce ve politika biçimidir. Esasında bütün kimlikler gibi Avrupalı kimliği de tarihsel bir inşadır. Dolayısıyla entelektüel ya da politik alanda Aydınlanma düşüncesini olumlayan ya da reddeden söylem ve pratikler, Avrupalı kimliğinin oluşumunda farklı şekillerde roller üstlenmiş ve dönem dönem birbirleriyle rekabet içinde olan kimlik tanımları üretmişlerdir. Bu makale, öncelikle Aydınlanma’nın tartışmalı entelektüel ve politik mirasını, özellikle de dünyayı Avrupamerkezci bir bakışla kavrama eğilimini göz önüne alarak “Avrupalı olan” ile “öteki” olarak imgelenen ulusların nasıl bir kimlikle tanımlandığı sorusunu ele almıştır. Daha sonra ise Aydınlanma’nın bu tartışmalı mirasından hareketle, Avrupa’da yükselen aşırı sağın göçmen karşıtı söylemleri ile “Avrupalı kimliği” anlatıları arasındaki bağlantı noktaları sorunsallaştırılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Aydınlanma
• Avrupalı Kimliği
• Göçmen Karşıtı Söylem
• Avrupamerkezcilik
• Aşırı Sağ

Enlightenment, European Identity and Anti-Immigrant Discourse

Abstract

In the formation of modern European identity, the 18th-century Enlightenment thought that emerged in Europe played a significant role in both historical and ideological contexts. The controversial legacy of the Enlightenment is a complex form of thought and politics that, on one hand, represents values and principles such as liberation from religious dogmas, rational thinking, tolerance, and liberty, while on the other, it positions other nations as “inferior” in terms of civilization and humanity, seeing no harm in their colonization and enslavement. Essentially, like all identities, European identity is a historical construct. Therefore, discourses and practices that either affirm or reject Enlightenment thought in the intellectual or political sphere have taken on different roles in the formation of European identity and have produced identity definitions that have been in competition with each other from time to time. This article first addresses the question of how “European” and nations imagined as the “other” are defined in terms of identity, taking into consideration the controversial intellectual and political legacy of the Enlightenment, particularly its tendency to comprehend the world from a Eurocentric perspective. Subsequently, drawing from this controversial legacy of the Enlightenment, the connections between the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the rising far-right in Europe and narratives of “European identity” are problematized.

Keywords

• Enlightenment
• European Identity
• Anti-Immigrant Discourse
• Eurocentrism
• Far-Right

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