EU disintegration as cultural insurrection of the anti-Enlightenment tradition

Abstract

This article highlights certain aspects of EU member state culture on the
disintegration of the Union from a constructivist perspective. It ascertains
that the present disintegration is a result of a long-time existing Europewide
anti-Enlightenment tradition described by Zeev Sternhell. Its patterns
were always part of EU law as well as domestic policy-making; only
its strength and relevance were different. As a result, EU policies existed
like materials in a dynamic equilibrium: Antagonistic processes like integration
and disintegration were melding in EU cooperation, at the same
time, in the same system. Without proper circumstances, however, the
system can contain more and more patterns which reverse cooperation
and cause tensions. On the other hand, the anti-Enlightenment tradition
does not necessarily negate the cooperation, but has the potential to
change domestic governance and, through this, the principles on which
European nations build their cooperation.

Keywords: european union, integration, disintegration, enlightenment

JEL Classification: Z18