European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

148 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYThere is a clear differentiation between “national security” policies,focused on the territorial integrity of a State and its freedom to determineits type of government, and the concept of “human security” which, Irepeat, puts special emphasis on individuals and communities andspecially on civilians who find themselves in situations of extremevulnerability, be it in contexts of war or marginalization.Globalization (“Anti-globalization” movements)It has settled amongst us and it is bound to be permanent. Liberalglobalization defends the market and combats the State. It is amerciless fight which brings the private sector face to face with thepublic sector, what is individual versus what is collective, selfishnessversus solidarity and personal enrichment versus general commongood. Globalisation is mainly a financial phenomenon 5 . Speculativecapital is what circulates the most around the world with no obstacleswhatsoever.Globalization could not have developed as it did without aneoliberal ideological context and an economic model like capitalism. Ithas found the adequate ideology to legitimise itself socially; and withit, it has equipped itself with rhetoric 6 and speeches, guidelines andassessments which conceal or distort reality. Likewise, we find ourselvesin a stage of capitalism characterised by:—Absolute freedom of money and capital.—Relative freedom of goods and services.—Very restricted freedom of movement for people and workers.We cannot obviate “anti-globalization movements” (the term iscriticised because it is defined using the negative) which reject this globalizationand claim another type of globalization. They do not constitute aparty; they are a galaxy bringing together diverse, sometimes opposite,associations that share this denunciation. They do not have headquartersnor common managers. They hit the headlines in Seattle (USA) in 1999,replying to the Assembly of the World Bank and the IMF. Since then, theirhistory is linked to great international summits: Nice, Prague, Genoa orBarcelona. They meet every year at the end of January in Porto Alegre5Ramonet, Ignacio. Le Monde Diplomatique.6García Roca, Joaquín. “El siglo que convirtió el mundo en una aldea global”. SalTerrae.