Öz
The purpose of this paper is to observe how the Europeanization process is
perceived by Europeans. First, it is attempted to define the concept of
Europeanization with particular references to the concepts of globalization and
localization. While the former denotes an inevitable development of ‘world-wide
interconnectedness’ in governmental, economic, security-related and
technological issues, hence based on a functional logic; the latter is being fed
from essentialist-culturalist ties constructed between people and their
territories. The position of Europeanization is represented in-between with the
disadvantage of the obvious lack of both functional inevitability and cultural
awareness. Second, the so-called ‘Berlusconi-Schulz Case’ will be analyzed in
order to demonstrate how 'European' issues gain dissimilar attention from
different national bases in the European Continent. Since the source of the
dissimilarity of public reaction to a supposedly European matter is still national
– i.e., while Berlusconi is regarded not as the President of the European
Council of Ministers, but as an Italian, and Schulz is only a German, not a
deputy in the European Parliament –, and their friction is perceived as ‘a clash
of nations’; it is at ease to claim that Europeanization or the discussions upon
the European Identity are still having trouble moving away from the nationalist
paradigm, let alone constructing an alternative to it. Third, a study concerning
the transnational movements' campaigns will be added into the discussion, yet
this time, observing why Europeanization does not constitute an 'alternative' to
the globalization process in the eyes of the sensitive side of the European public.
The responses obtained from the participants to those protests reveal that
Europeanization, from the standpoint of the activists, is regarded as one of the
by-products of the neo-liberal globalization, manufactured in a purely
capitalistic laissez-faire logic. They also insist that thus far regional unification
in Europe has failed to generate the alternative for the malign dimensions of
globalization, and only if a more social, more welfare-oriented Europe,
sensitive to the rates of unemployment, poverty, and fair-trade, is secured, then
it would make sense to mention a unique process of Europeanization. The two
consecutive studies indicate in common that when it comes to Europeanization,
Europeans tend to devalue the process either from a national or a global
viewpoint and prefer discussing European issues as either demoted to the local
level or raised into the global level, respectively. Eurobarometer studies will be
employed, fourthly, for associating and assessing the findings of these two
separate fields of analysis with the concept of European Identity. Since the mid-
1980s, when the process of European integration have been taking a more
political stance in addition to its economic rationale, the unification in Europe
have been heralded also on the cultural basis. Accordingly, the peoples of
Europe share a cultural, historical, territorial, and traditional common ground
such that culturally they are bound as well to have a common identity. The
introduction of a European flag, anthem, motto (‘unity in diversity’), calendar,
passports, driving licenses, the freedom of factors of production, and the
concept of European citizenship have been designed specifically for giving the
process of Europeanization a sense of a common identity. However, as the
Eurobarometer results demonstrate, the efforts to construct (or to remind of)
such identity have so far failed. The association with ‘Europeanness’ is way
behind of the Europeans’ self-identification with their national or sub-national
identities. The inter-national differences are still valued over the continent-wide
cultural connectedness. Therefore, Europeanization has been hovering above
Europe with no actual identity attached to it. Combining the results of the three
studies, it might be concluded that Europeanization has not yet been able to
gain a true European identity, and the underlying reason might be found in that
the two dominant sources of world politics today, i.e., the national-level
identification and global-level interconnectedness of people, economics and
politics, have still profound impact on the perception of Europeans, which
inevitably undervalue the process of Europeanization and makes it insignificant
in the eyes of its addressees.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Europeanization European Union globalization nationalism social movements
Öz
Bu makalenin amacı ‘Avrupalılaşma ’ sürecinin Avrupalılar tarafından nasıl algılandığını değerlendirmektir. İlk olarak, Avrupalılaşma kavramı, küreselleşme ve yerelleşme kavramları ile karşılaştırılmalı olarak analiz edilecektir. İkinci olarak, ‘Berlusconi-Schulz meselesi’ olarak literatüre giren tartışma, Avrupa ’yı ilgilendiren bir meselenin, farklı Avrupa ülkeleri kamuoylarınca nasıl ve neden farklı olarak algılandığı sorularına yanıt bulmak için kullanılacaktır. Meseleye farklı kamuoylarınca geliştirilen farklı yaklışmların, ulusal tartışma düzeyinden öteye geçememesi, Avrupalılaşma ve Avrupa Kimliği diye adlandırılan kavramların, ulus-devlet paradigmasını aşma konusunda henüz yeterli olmadıkları sonucuna vurgu yapacaktır. Üçüncü olarak, uluslar-üstü hareketlere karşı düzenlenen üç ayrı karşıt-kampanya mercek altına yatırılacak ve Avrupalılaşma kavramının, küreselleşme süreci karşısındaki konumu değerlendirmeye alınacaktır. Avrupa kamuoyunun aktivist kanadının, Avrupalılaşma sürecini, küreselleşmenin neoliberal etkilerinin bir sonucu olarak görmesi, bu sürecin yalnızca ulusal paradigmayı değil, küresel paradigmayı da aşmak, ya da onlara bir alternatif üretmek, konusunda yetersiz olduğunu gösterecektir. Dördüncü olarak, Eurobarometre araştırmalarından yararlanılarak, değerlendirilen bu iki ayrı çalışmanın, Avrupa Kimliği tartışmalarında nereye oturtulabileceği konusunda fikir üretilecektir. Sonuç bölümünde ise, Avrupa kamuoyunun, tartışılan konu bir Avrupa meselesi dahi olsa, bu konuyu Avrupalılaşma kavramı dahilinde almak yerine, yerel ya da küresel boyuta taşıma (indirgeme veya yükseltme) taraftarı olduğu gösterilmeye çalışılacak; kimliksiz bir Avrupalılaşmanın geleceği üzerine tartışmalarda bulunulacaktır.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Avrupalılaşma Avrupa Birliği küreselleşme milliyetçilik sosyal hareketler
Ayrıntılar
| Diğer ID | JA69ED44RY |
|---|---|
| Bölüm | Makaleler |
| Yazarlar | |
| Yayımlanma Tarihi | 1 Haziran 2009 |
| Yayımlandığı Sayı | Yıl 2009 Cilt: 11 Sayı: 1 |