European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

88 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYincrease as new countries are incorporated. This means the rising of atransnational European unity which surpasses the “we-they” oppositionin the formation of identities, and defined as a “community spirit” ofintercultural diversity. For this to transpire, strategies of learning andmodels that promote a notion of emancipated and transculturalpersonality are needed. In this same sense Heater went on record in1990, presenting intercultural education as a way to consolidate world’scitizenship showing the possibility to live together beyond cultural,ethnic, or religious differences.The European Dimension of EducationFor Barthélémy (1999), the above expression transmits the certaintyof dealing with a key concept to define a new epistemological framewhich, by itself, can reveal the conditions to build a modern and pacificEurope. If Europe is the point of reference to construct the Europeanidentity we need to raise the question: What do we mean by Europe?According to this author, we cannot talk about Europe in terms ofcivilization (there is not a European consciousness throughout history,even less when the term “European Civilization” was coined, at theend of the 19 th Century, which is the epoch of nationalisms). Speakingabout “European dimensions” means including within this expressionall the panoramas and social phenomena, from the legacy of antiquityto the information highways, passing by all authoritarian alienations,conflicts, etc., which have splashed Europe’s history, developing for it acritical attitude and a reasonable judgement.Europe must confront all the subjects at play that concern itdirectly, since it is not possible today to find solutions to scientific andtechnological progress, to the new working ways, to immigration,relations between different parts of the world, etc., only from thenational states’ frameworks.Barthelemy (1999) indicates that one of Europe’s history lessons isthe progressive construction of a series of doctrines, such as humanrights, pluralist democracy, etc., which try to locate men and women inthe heart of their environment, warranting the responsible exercise oftheir independence, and providing society itself with sustained andharmonious development. European values are never definitive, buteveryday have to be revised and inculcated in the mentality andbehaviour of each person. The legacies received for our current societiesare many, varied, and contradictory, but it is necessary to remove the