A Narrative of Friendship

AutorAlexander Görlach
Páginas79-83

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The narrative of the European Union has been under threat over the last couple of years. “The project” as many still call (or ridicule) the now seventy-years-in endeavor of its member states seems to not keeping its promise: Peace and prosperity on one hand side would go alongside with social welfare, equality and justice. In the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008, however, many young Europeans found themselves unemployed and deprived from many options they believed to be coming with an European Union membership.

To them no other conclusion was apt than that the union had outlived its purpose. Since then, Narrative wise, there has indeed only been wide emphasis on the peace side of things. “Never again” as the everlasting slogan for, the epitome of the political union of the Europeans. A mantra with no quality to redeem itself. But, frankly, what could a common new narrative for Europe look like, what would it embody?

There is an agreement that Europe until the present day has been abstinent from a strong tone of identification as one is used from nation states: there is not much fuzz about the flag, the anthem is not revered as one may expect. This makes no wonder: the European Union as a project is designed to outlive the nation state and is therefore all but keen to embrace the mechanisms that made nation states so attractive –and dangerous. The Union is governed by secular bureaucrats. That is useful and prevents wars from breaking out over god and fatherland. On the other hand it makes it difficult for the every day European to relate. God and fatherland have been re-introduced in the discourse through the various nationalistic right-wing movements on the continent that, in order to finger point towards the Muslims as the outsiders and outcast, emphasise on

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the Christian heritage of Europe. The demons of the past are all but legit to heal the yearning of Europe for a new, fresh narrative. So what else is there?

Let me share my experience that I made for away from the shores of Europe, our beloved Old World, an experience I made during my years at Harvard University in New England. I was invited as a J. F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow to the Center for European Studies at Harvard in the fall of 2014. I returned for the academic years 2015-2017 and stayed affiliated with the university after those two years in the capacity of an Affiliate Professor.

As a European you realize very quickly that the kind of how you make a friendship is very much different here and there. Americans seem to always rather strive to make friends within the social group they are already assigned to: if you are in law school you only have friends from law school. My friends in...

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