Reset Europe
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Vol.: 10 CULTURE REPORT PROGRESS EUROPE 2020 ‘Knowledge of society should be part of culture.’ Reset Europe Time for culture back the trust of Europe’s citizens and create a Europe to give Europe Europe’s existential values of human rights, multilatera new momentum? CULTURE REPORT PROGRESS EUROPE 2020 CULTURE REPORT PROGRESS EUROPE 2020 The image that Europe is currently presenting could hardly be more contradictory: isolationism, populism, scepticism about EU institutions are all mixed in with a newly blossoming euphoria about the European idea. Does Europe need a reset? At the moment it mainly needs a direction. In the face of democratic crises, climate change, structural change and the hate that exists in society, the people of Europe need new ways of solving pressing problems. Can culture help to win back the trust of Europe’s citizens and create a European public sphere? Can it generate more unity and defend Europe’s existential values of human rights, multilateralism, freedom of the press and opinion? The contributors to this Culture Report look for answers to these questions. Foreword Preventing nationalism and promoting a European public sphere By Sebastian Körber Chapter 1: DEMOCRACY ON THE BACK FOOT – IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM The fight for liberal democracy By Francis Fukuyama 10 Europe’s identities By Alfred Grosser 38 Our global mess By Ladislau Dowbor 64 Polarisation, identity, and how it all went wrong By Bernd Reiter 70 Maximising mistrust By Branko Milanović 79 The many ideas of Europe By Pankaj Mishra 82 From figure of fun to terrifying autocrat By Ece Temelkuran 87 Centre and periphery By Adam Balcer 111 Homesick for the future By Herta Müller 118 22 Contents Chapter 2: RESET EUROPE – CRISIS AS OPPORTUNITY A call to action By Emmanuel Macron 124 Lifesaving medicine for the world By Federica Mogherini 134 What unites Europe? By Heinrich August Winkler 137 How can Europe gain new strength? By Heribert Prantl 142 More politics? By Ulrike Guérot 156 Time to make Europe understandable By Martin Schulz 174 Revolution is in the air By Bogdan Góralczyk 178 Freedom for creative artists By Jagoda Marinić 184 Chapter 3: SOCIAL FRAGMENTATION – THE FIGHT TO CONTROL THE NARRATIVE A short story about control By Anatol Itten 194 An exclusive claim to truth By Aleida and Jan Assmann 202 The loss of the public sphere By Eva Menasse 210 Writing in times of disaster By Åsne Seierstad 216 In defence of the do-gooders By Ilija Trojanow 220 The digital illusion By Jaron Lanier 226 The future rulers? By Thorsten Jelinek 244 Platform Europe By Johannes Hillje 253 Giving voices to the voiceless By Margaret Atwood 268 The power of conspiracy By Michael Butter 274 Press freedom under pressure By Frank Vogl 279 Is it conceivable that there could once again be war in Europe? Berlin photographer Edgar Zippel visits the border area between Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina and his photos reveal the traces of the destruction that was wrought by the Yugoslav civil war. Looking at the people, it feels as if the fighting has only just ended, and they have not shaken off the horror and trauma that it brought to their lives. Zippel comments: 'My photos document the destruction of this region and its people and remind us of a war that raged in the heart of Europe 20 years ago, but that is still far from over elsewhere in the world'. 33 Foreword hat defines Europe’s identity? Preventing The euro, Schengen, or the WChampions League? In this la- nationalism test volume, German/French writer Alfred Grosser shares his belief that the EU insti- and promoting tution with the greatest potential to create identity should be the European Parliament. a European He outlines the development of the EU from its origins to today and strikes back at the public sphere fundamental evil that is now more current than ever: the finger-pointing at others, the by Sebastian Körber bad ones, the Muslims, women, Jews, Ger- KULTURREPORT • mans or refugees. Other contributors to this bookKULTURREPORT • also discuss how the fake news and disinformation that is spread on social me- dia, bypassing the established media with their fact-checkers, editors and professional 1/07 :WY^p[_b[ Dachzeile Edition 3/2010 codes, along with an ongoing loss of trust in 9KBJKH;H;FEHJ CULTURE REPORT Postęp Europa Progress Europe established political parties and rule-of-law Прогрес Европа Fortschritt in Europe zE • Europa Progreso Europa Be- R institutions is posing a fundamental threat T O KULTU Europe reads – sivystanti Europa Progres- R CULTURE REPORT • CULTURE REPORT • CULTURE REPORT • KULTURREPORT • RAPO Europa w mediach - Literature so Europa Napredek Evro- – Literature in Europe media w Europie to liberal societies, not only in Europe but pa Framsteg Europa Fejlõdõ rea Európa Edistys Postęp Eu- Europe ds worldwide. However, the European Union is ropa Progress Europe Ev- ropa Pokrok Eurooppa Pok- at particular risk because of its fragile cohe- rok Europa Vooruitstrevend Europa Πρόοδος Ευρώπη sion, as has been highlighted by the series of L’Europe en marche Europas Fremskridt Progrese Europa recent crises, from the global financial and Euroopa edusammud( 1 sovereign debt crisis to the refugee crisis and Dachzeile Vol.: 5 Vol.: 6 KULTURREPORT KULTURREPORT now, above all, the coronavirus pandemic. EUNIC-Yearbook 2012/13 EUNIC-Jahrbuch 2012/2013 EUNIC-JAHRBUCH 2013/2014 KULTURREPORT • Europa von außen Progress and shortcomings Erwartungen an die europäische Außenkulturpolitik KULTURREPORT • Herausforderungen für Europas Außenpolitik Progress Europe is the tenth edition of the Culture Report, which ifa launched in 1 conjunction with other European founda- Vol.: 9 Vol.: 8 tions in 2007 as a means of exploring pro- KULTURREPORT KULTURREPORT EUNIC-JAHRBUCH 2018 gress and shortcomings in the field of cul- EUNIC-JAHRBUCH 2016 Globales Spiel – tural relations. Many prominent writers Sport, Kultur, Entwicklung Kulturen des Wir” Die Rolle der Kultur und Außenpolitik Europa und have contributed over the years, from Wim indie SucheEuropa nach nacheinem neuen innen und außen Narrativ Wenders to Umberto Eco, Inge Feltrinelli to Reinhold Messner, and Timothy Garton Ash to Slavoj Zizek. We have published a to- tal of 252 articles from 53 countries in up to KKulturreport2016_Cover.inddulturreport2016_Cover.indd 1 KKulturreport_2018_Cover_D_E.inddulturreport_2018_Cover_D_E.indd 1 224.06.164.06.16 116:576:57 227.08.187.08.18 112:172:17 five languages. For eight years, the Culture 44 Foreword Report was also the Yearbook of EUNIC But it remains clear whether Europe has an (Europe’s network of national cultural insti- identity that is stronger than the national tutes) and published in German and English variants. “Europe is a refuge, but not neces- in conjunction with Steidl-Verlag. Martin sarily a preferred destination.” Fuyukama’s Schulz, former President of the European analysis revolves around the desire for iden- Parliament, looks back at the progress that tity and recognition. Liberal democracies has been made in Europe, how enemies have have been good at providing peace and pro- become friends, dictatorships given way to sperity. Between 1970 and 2008, the world’s democracies, borders opened, and the lar- output of goods and services quadrupled, gest and most prosperous internal market while inequality soared because globalisati- in the world has been created. Like Federica on had produced significant populations of Mogherini, the former EU High Represen- people who were left behind by the overall tative for Foreign Affairs and Security Po- growth. Political leaders began to call for licy, whose term in office included working the dignity that was being lost. According with the European Commission to present a to Fukuyama, economic grievances become strategy for international cultural relations, much more acute when they are attached to Martin Schulz stresses the importance of not feelings of indignity and disrespect. This is questioning what has been achieved to date when people are susceptible to the promises and suggesting that Europe is worse than and slogans of populist movements. it really is. Platform for mass communication Preservation of liberal democracy When the internet first became a plat- However, right from the very first edition form for mass communication, many obser- of the Culture Report, its contributors have vers believed it would be an important force repeatedly highlighted the lack of a Europe- for promoting democratic values. Informa- an public sphere. A few years ago, there was tion is a form of power and if the internet a sense of optimism that the Erasmus and increased everyone’s access to information, Easyjet generation would lead to this pro- it should also distribute power more broad- blem resolving itself, and we were used to ly. But, since then, social media has succee- Europe leaving cucumber curvature issues to ded in accelerating the fragmentation of li- the experts and technocrats in Brussels. But beral societies. Isolated from each other in now there is a widespread realisation that our filter bubbles, we dig our own tunnels: the lack of citizen-orientation is not just a “The public sphere as we know it has gone. PR problem, but one that strikes at the very It’s not that it will disappear in the future heart of cohesion. – it has already disappeared”, says Austrian It is about nothing less than the preser- writer Eva Menasse. “Ten years of internet vation of liberal democracy, as underlined for all, with your phone in your hand” have Sebastian Körber is Deputy Secretary- by political scientist Francis Fukuyama in sufficed to make us forget the important General and Head of this volume. The European Community achievements of civilisation. Other opini- the Media Depart- ment at the Institut was founded in 1951 as an antidote to the ons no longer serve to make us examine our für Auslands- exclusively national definition of identity.