Europeanisation, National Identities and Migration ... - europeanization

Democracy without demos 57
Correspondingly, options and possibilities for differentiation are growing for people
(Gross 1994). Yet at the same time, the necessities for differentiation are increasing.
The openness of borders leads to a decline in spaces protected against competition.
Tougher competition is the drawback of extended economic opportunities. Those
willing to earn money compete more strongly for jobs, suppliers of products and
services for clients, locations for investors. They can meet this competition by
offering better quality at the same price or asking a lower price for the same products
based on higher productivity. This strategy has worked perfectly in Germany for a
long time and has led to a permanent rise in productivity. As soon as the limit of
this strategy has, however, been achieved, people have to undergo more substantial
changes. In his study on the division of labour, Durkheim revealed three ways out:
emigration, suicide and specialisation. Since, as a rule, people cling strongly to their
home and their life, it is only the third way that remains open to them, namely
specialisation (Durkheim 1964: 256–82; 1982: ch. 5, 1).
In a world of unprotected spaces, emigration is an option only for those living in
the world’s poorest regions. The unequal level of development of the world’s regions
and the shortening of distances through transport and communication have, in fact,
an influence in increasing the migration rate. Nevertheless, the majority of people
remain within the poorer regions, whilst only a small number succeed in reaching
the richer ones. Basically, war and destruction along with more limited opportunities
to earn an income and an improved awareness of better opportunities in other
locations, are the main reasons behind the swelling of the migration streams.
In the highly developed regions, specialisation offers the only realistically
feasible way out of a situation of overflowing competition, which otherwise
results in an increasing narrowing of the scope of distribution. This means that
more and more products and services have to be launched on to the market in ever
shorter product cycles (Durkheim 1964: 270–5). Specialisation implies the offering
of products and services which did not exist in this particular form before.
Correspondingly, an ever greater number and sequence of inventions is required,
which have to be made into products ever faster. The basis for this is the more
comprehensive and thoroughgoing exploitation of the potential offered by science.
All those disciplines which cannot be used to this end, will find it more difficult to
survive. The humanities, which are strongly affected by this development, therefore
have to find a completely new definition and replace the devotion to high culture
by the training of marketable qualifications. This shows that the strategy of reducing
competition through specialisation is inseparably linked with the permanent rise
in economic growth. Without this growth, distribution struggles tend to become
harder and ultimately have to lead to violent clashes. It is only the establishment
of a global compulsory regime, rationing the limited resources that could avoid
such consequences.
Therefore, there are three alternatives to the reduction in distances and the
related growth in competition in the European single market and the world market:
specialisation accompanied by permanent economic growth; violent distribution
struggles; or a compulsory global regime. Since economic growth and the
acceleration of product cycles and of structural change involve an ever growing