European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

268 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYcultural values. He abandons the notion that the West is completelyhomogenous, which allows him to conceive of it as a complex systemin which certain elements can enter into harmony with those fromother systems. Consequently, taking parts or products from the systemdoes not mean a general acceptance of the West; it does mean,however, that one must have a choice when borrowing from thissystem so that the ensuing relation is a harmonious one. To that end,Soroush proposes having confidence in ones own cultural resourcesand actively participating in the process of introspection so as to openup to the “other” without fears or complexes 28 .This new form of knowledge will also serve as a cathartic processthrough which to overcome the fascination for the West, now morereal than imaginary.In this connection, Shariati, perhaps the most important thinker ofthe Iranian revolution, urged the Islamist youth and students to comeout of their cultural alienation and to look for new intellectual forms ofthinking situated between Western and traditional forms: “(…) themasses inherit a well-elaborated and cooked food and do not have toexert any effort to make their choice, they only have to examine it. Inthe same way, they do not have to be bothered with choosing, forsome well-packaged consumer products reach them directly from theWest, and it is enough just to open and consume them (...). But amongthese two options are those that can resign themselves to continuebeing submersed in some out-of-date criteria, not even to consume theideological products that have arrived from the West throughout thelast century. Those intellectuals hope to elaborate for themselves,through choice, their own intellectual product.” 29This new perception judged the legacy of Westernization in a morebalanced way, without considering it the only road to happiness, butnot a misfortune either. Rather it recognized that only through contactwith other cultures and ways of thinking could people obtain thenecessary resources to protect themselves in their international, Stateand market relations.This proposal for dialogue and synthesis received a favourableresponse in the reunion that the EU and the Islamic Conference held inIstanbul in the Spring of 2002, under the motto of “Civilization andHarmony”, demonstrating their rejection of a North American initiativeto invade Iraq.28Merinero, M.ª J. (2001). Iran. Towards a Promising Disorder. Madrid, Ed., LosLibros de la Catarata, p. 181and following pages.29Shariati, A. (1982) Histoire et destinée. Paris, Sindbad, p. 110.