From the Archives: Jan-Werner Müller on Euro-patriotism
From the Archives: Jan-Werner Müller on Euro-patriotism
From the Archives: Jan-Werner Müller on Euro-patriotism
The sovereign debt crises reverberating across the eurozone this spring prompted doubts, especially from Euro-skeptic corners, as to whether the decade-old monetary union could hold together. But in early May EU finance ministers agreed to a rescue package of nearly $1 trillion, signaling what Jürgen Habermas calls ?a paradigm shift? in which ?the taxpayers of the eurozone bear joint liability for the budgetary risks of each of the other member states.?
Yet Europe has not reached the end of its woes. Angela Merkel initially expressed reluctance to deepen European economic coordination, an attitude Habermas finds all too prevalent among Germans of her generation:
The current German elites are enjoying the return to normality as a nation-state. Having reached the end of a “long path to the West,” they are certified democrats and can once again be “just like the others.” What has disappeared is the anxiousness of a people, who were also defeated morally and were compelled to engage in self-criticism, to find their bearings more rapidly in the postnational constellation. In a globalized world everyone has to learn to incorporate the perspectives of others into his or her own instead of withdrawing into an egocentric blend of aestheticization and utility-maximization. One political symptom of the dwindling willingness to learn are the Maastricht and Lisbon verdicts of the German Federal Constitutional Court, which cling to outmoded dogmatic legal conceptions of sovereignty. The solipsistic and normatively depleted mindset of this self-absorbed colossus in the middle of Europe can no longer even guarantee that the unstable status quo in the EU will be preserved.
Despite his worries, Habermas argues that with ?a little political backbone? leaders can still promote the idea of a ?shared European destiny.?
In the Spring 2004 issue of Dissent Jan-Werner Müller asked, pace Habermas,?Is Euro-patriotism Possible?? As increasing economic integration is met by worrying victories for far-right political parties across the continent, Müller?s question remains as relevant as ever:
Habermas has demanded that Europeans ought to “build another (European) storey” to their national identities, or enlarge them with a “European dimension.” But the European self is not a house (let alone a fortress) with a beautiful terrace on which one can breathe freer cosmopolitan air, all while nationalist demons remain buried in the basement. If architectural metaphors are a must, it is probably a Frank Gehry or Daniel Libeskind building.
