European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

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144 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYAlterity (“The Others”)Openness to difference has never been easy. It always entailsdifficulties and generates some type of exclusion. Non-inclusion startswhen an individual or a group perceives a difference in others and hasthe power to decide whether to exclude them or not, regardless of alljustifications and of the nature of the difference in question. Political,linguistic and spatial boundaries are then established. All differencesare seen as inferior, dependent and submissive with respect to thehegemonic culture established by the “standards”.The history of the different “Other” is woven with acceptance,rejection, limitation, recognition, etc. The Others are represented asbarbarians, pagans, foreigners, non-citizens, immigrants, indigenouspeople, women, gays, etc. Acknowledging the problem allows us toopen ourselves to a reality we have always experienced in complexsocieties but that we have always avoided, homogenising what wasdifferent. Everything that, despite all, emerged as distinct, was eitherdiscriminated or excluded. It is the instinctive fearful reaction todifference. The idea that we are all different and that the centres fromwhich we emerge could lead to other new and different centres,should make us leave aside our prejudice and apprehension regardingsociocultural heterogeneity and acknowledge that societies areorganised according to their diversity to achieve unity in difference.In European societies, especially due to immigration, there is a widespread tendency to emphasise differences among people and toestablish boundaries and to create gaps between those who aredifferent, who are regarded as strangers (= foreigners). In extremecases, they are even regarded as enemies, disrupters, invaders andcompetitors, and they are even made responsible for any daily lifedysfunction. They are attacked and they are even expelled from one´sterritory. If they are welcomed, they are asked to give up their ownculture and to integrate into ours, to abandon their habits and adoptours. It is the opposite of interculturalism.When they are welcomed it is because they are needed, useful, theyproduce wealth, they carry out tasks that nationals do not want or theyearn less than them. Some immigration laws are more territory controllaws than welcome laws. The logic underlying alterity (“the othercannot be considered a means to an end”) is very different. It impliesrespect towards he or she who is different, practising crossbreeding, awelcoming attitude, inter-ethnic communication, inter-cultural dialogueand, most of all, the recognition of denied, silenced, crushed andhumiliated alterities. It entails valuing difference as wealth.
DIFFERENCE AS DESTABILISING FACTOR 145Human life does not evolve in a harmonious and reconciledatmosphere but in a plural and conflictive society. We cannot flee fromconflict, but rather assume it or even sometimes provoke it since it is asource of transformation.Generally speaking (and without forgetting other groups) immigrantsare the current “Others”. Immigrants are undoubtedly changing Europeansociety and, at an accelerated pace in the past years, they are also greatlychanging Spanish society 1 . The statistics speak for themselves and I thinkthey do not require much explanation 2 . Spain´s population is expected todecrease by 25 %.European population in declive(en cifras número de habitantes)1998 2050* 1998 2050*Alemania 82.133.000 73.303.000 Italia 57.369.000 41.197.000Austria 8.140.000 7.094.000 Holanda 15.678.000 14.146.000Bélgica 10,141.000 8.918.000 Noruega 4.419.000 4.758.000Dinamarca 5.2770.000 4.793.000 Portugal 9.869.000 8.137.000España 39.628.000 30.226.000 Reino Unido 58.649.000 56.667.000Francia 58.683.000 59.883.000 Suecia 8.875.000 8.661.000Grecia 10.600.000 8.233.000 Suiza 7.299.000 6.745.000* Previsión.Fuente: ONU.Regarding immigration figures, from 1995 to the year 2000 thenumber of immigrants has doubled and the number of non-Community immigrants has more than doubled.The EU meeting held in Seville last June launched immigration asone of the priorities for the forthcoming months. The debate focusedon police-related aspects and repressive measures. However, in therealm of migration management, the only solution possible is a globalpolitical approach, tackling the issues of entry and stay, integration,joint development and movement policies and fight against mafianetworks and illegal work. NGOs devoted to these topics have oftencondemned these responses which do not solve anything.1Reports from the Spanish newspapers El País (Supplement) and La Vanguardia(Temas de Fondo): Sunday, June 16 th , 2002.2Ministry of Interior, Spain. Anuario estatístico de Extranjería 2001.
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Inés María Gómez-Chacón (ed.)Eu
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European Identity.Individual, Group
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ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . .
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CONTENTS 914. The Construction of E
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12 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, G
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Opening AddressCamino Cañón Loyes
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OPENING ADDRESS 29throughout histor
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OPENING ADDRESS 31—To gather expe
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OPENING ADDRESS 33European nature a
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1.What do we Mean When we Say Europ
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WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY EUROPE 39W
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WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY EUROPE 41O
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WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY EUROPE 43u
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WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY EUROPE 45e
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WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY EUROPE 47A
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3.Europe, from the Institutional Re
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EUROPE, FROM THE INSTITUTIONAL REFE
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4.The European Dimension of Educati
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THE EUROPEAN DIMENSION OF EDUCATION
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14.The Construction of the European
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THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE EUROPEAN ID
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ConclusionTHE CONSTRUCTION OF THE E
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16.Images of Europe: the Perspectiv
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IMAGES OF EUROPE: THE PERSPECTIVE O
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22.The Construction of European Ide
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THE CONSTRUCTION OF EUROPEAN IDENTI
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