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European identity

The EU has recently experienced a major expansion of membership, with new members waiting to join and with ever-growing trends of migration from both within and outside. Yet, major players within the EU are now adjusting to the newcomers, still without previously having really established a clear sense of their own European identities. In this context, we aim at exploring key issues in the negotiation of identities within the new socio-political, economic and cultural framework. Key questions will be:

1. What are the main characteristics, mechanisms and dissemination features of neo-colonial modes of representation in contemporary Europe?

2. How are they received by groups commonly associated with the former periphery, and how are they shaped by other groups?

The case for considering neo-colonialism in Europe is justified and explained from the perspective of postcolonial theory, while the context will be examined from the perspective of EU discourse that reflects its stance on national, regional and ethnic identity and the policies aimed at encouraging a harmonious bonding of Europe’s postcolonial, diasporic, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and mobile communities. All this includes an investigation of aspects that might be directly linkable to patterns of European colonialism and/or to related issues of globalization and diaspora, which still represent a rather marginal area in postcolonial research.

Questions of European identity are much discussed and debated, both in relation to an over-arching EU identity and in relation to the groups that go to make up the EU. It seems clear that while a distinct European identity is some way off for many Europeans, within Europe there is nonetheless a constant quest and a need by many people to re-position themselves, either consciously or unconsciously, in relation to the changing environment. In this quest to reposition, the role of language is fundamental on a number of dimensions.

Language is often cited as an essential element in our identity, albeit one among many. On one level it is crucial as the medium through which groups express their own aspirations and concerns, as their means to selfexpression and self-image: “Language allows us to identify our own place in the world and our own subjectivity. A language is the product of the collective attitudes and values of a particular group”. At the same time, language is also the medium through which people’s perceptions of others are reflected and is thus a mirror for the biases and prejudices that they may hold.

On another level, language can be a vital factor in its own right, becoming another actor in identity construction within debates over language status, language policy and language form. The EU has of course long appreciated the importance of language in the future success or otherwise of the EU and has embodied in its own treaties the inviolability of national languages and the importance of guaranteeing individual language rights within Europe. It has also increasingly supported Europe’s minority languages, at least in its own discourse and in its funding initiatives and both of these positions are reinforced in the Framework Strategy for Multilingualism (Commission of the European Communities 2005) currently under discussion. EU philosophy is enshrined in the new Framework Strategy which promotes linguistic and cultural diversity, stating that:

It is this diversity that makes the European Union what it is: not a “melting pot” in which differences are rendered down, but a common home in which diversity is celebrated, and where our many mother tongues are a source of wealth and a bridge to greater solidarity and mutual understanding. Language is the most direct expression of culture; it is what makes us human and what gives each of us a sense of identity.

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