EU Identity in a Westphalian and Multicultural Context

  • Arantza Gómez Arana Birmingham City University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-02-2019pp269-285
Keywords: EU identity, multiculturalism, solidarity, human rights, Greece

Abstract

The development of an EU identity should be supported by a legal framework to be able to justify its legitimation. Following the work of Ian Manners on normative power, this paper discusses the links between key aspects of EU values such as solidarity and human rights in a context where supporters of nation-states and Westphalian views of states have recently dominated European politics. This has had a a direct impact (or lack of) on the promotion of multiculturalism. This paper takes Greece as an example of how the EU’s approach towards this country could have been a display of solidarity and promotion of human rights but it missed the opportunity. One of the reasons for favouring a more utilitarian approach could be linked to the lack of sense and belonging to the EU society as a consequence of the barriers created by strong feelings of nationalism attached to European states and nations together with a lack of promotion of multiculturalism. It is argued that a more multicultural society could benefit from the creation of an EU identity and consequently, the creation of an EU society, EU policies, and potentially, the avoidance of future European crisis such as the one created with Brexit.

Received: 02 July 2018
Accepted: 16 July 2018
Published online: 27 February 2019

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Author Biography

Arantza Gómez Arana, Birmingham City University
Dr. Arantza Gómez Arana received her PhD at the University of Glasgow with a thesis that discussed the European Union relations with Latin America. She worked at the same university from 2012 until 2014 as a Research Associate as part of an FP7 project funded by the European Commission. In 2014 she joined Birmingham City University as a full time lecturer. She has published extensively in the area of European Union External Relations.
Published
2019-02-27
How to Cite
Gómez Arana, Arantza. 2019. “EU Identity in a Westphalian and Multicultural Context”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 02 (February), 269-85. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-02-2019pp269-285.
Issue
No. 02 (2019): SPECIAL ISSUE. European identity: roots and scope
Section
Monographic Articles. Scope of European identity. PART 3: «European identity: international projection»

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