A5 European Identity, Democratic Community, Social Solidarity and Cultural Diversity

Chair: András Bozóki (Central European University Budapest)

This panel will focus on the relationship between the political, social and cultural aspects of democratic Europe. While European optimism about integration and inclusion is widely shared in the sphere of politics, the parallel processes of disintegration and exclusion can also be detected. Feelings of insecurity in several European societies are increased by the urgency of structural reforms of continental European welfare states. Their fears seem to be redirected towards new member-states, their migrant workers as well as immigrants from external countries. These tensions point at serious imperfections of inclusion in Europe. The tensions may also foreshadow a long term European stalemate and the weakening of the European vision. The idea of intercultural dialogue could involve more than a mere cultural exchange; it could foster cooperation.

Panellists are invited to address the role of culture in complex multinational, multicultural, multilingual societies. Culture may perform both exclusive and inclusive social functions. What is the link between competitiveness, solidarity and culture, and between social relationships and human capital? Does enlargement offer a unique opportunity for enhancing economic competitiveness, social solidarity and to strengthen the democratic community itself? In the search for definitions of European identity, structuralist, “culturalist”, institutionalist and other approaches are equally welcome.