European Identity and Other Mysteries – Seeking Out the Hidden Source of Unity for a Troubled Polity

Abstract

The economic crisis exposes the European Union’s (EU) political fragility. How a polity made of very different states can live up to its motto (“Europe united in diversity”) is difficult to envisage in practice. In this paper I attempt an “exegesis” — a critical explanation or interpretation of a series of published pieces (“the Series”) which explore, first of all, if European unity (and what kind) is desirable at all. Second, it presents the methodology — analogical hermeneutics — to approach the problem of unity and runs throughout the Series. Third, it conceptualises the source of unity as political identity (and solidarity). Fourth, it advances that such identity could be found in a shared, analogical language: the political culture of human rights which is arguably common to all EU present and potential member states. Five, it submits the conditions under which such political culture could ground political identity (through an open public sphere). The economic crisis can be solved by means of a sound economic strategy (which is not the object of my research). However any successful economic strategy requires — as a precondition — a certain degree of political unity (the central concern in this exegesis).

Keywords: analogical hermeneutics, analogical language, European Union, human rights, political culture, political identity, political unity, public sphere, relational interculturalism, religion, secularism, solidarity, suprastatism