Munich Personal RePEc Archive European union. identity, diversity and integration Brie, Mircea and Polgar, Istvan and Chirodea, Florentina University of Oradea, Romania 2012 Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/44099/ MPRA Paper No. 44099, posted 31 Jan 2013 22:01 UTC European Union Identity, Diversity and Integration European Union Identity, Diversity and Integration Mircea BRIE István POLGÁR Florentina CHIRODEA (Coordinators) References by Luminiţa ŞOPRONI, Mircea BRIE, István POLGÁR, Dorin DOLGHI Oradea 2012 4 This publication also contains the papers of the PhD Candidates, National School of Political and Administrative Studies, Bucharest, Romania, beneficiaries of the “Doctoral Scholarships for a Sustainable Society”, project co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund, Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013. CONTENTS SOMMAIRE Mircea BRIE, István POLGÁR, Florentina CHIRODEA ◄► Cultural Identity, Diversity and European Integration. Introductory Study ............................................ 7 I. Identity and Elements of Anthropology in the European Space .............................. 21 Roxana Maria DASCĂLU ◄► Insights Into the Concept of European Identity .............. 23 Horia MOAŞA ◄► Voice and Silence in Relation to Identity .......................................... 35 Andreea MOLOCEA ◄►To See Things in Another Perspective: Feminist Influence in Epistemology, a New Way of Regarding Social and Political Science .................... 45 Ileana SĂDEAN ◄► Anthropological Representations of the Foreign Rural Development Model “Leader” in Romania ............................................................... 53 II. Education and Communication................................................................................... 67 Ioana CIUCANU ◄► Making Diversity Work in European Higher Education the Interplay Between Performance and Diversification ................................................ 69 Mirela VLASCEANU ◄► Impact of Quality-Based Funding in Romanian Higher Education: 1999-2010 ............................................................................................... 88 Andra-Maria ROESCU ◄► Studying Causal Inference in Political Science. The Case of Experiments .......................................................................................................... 98 Paul APARASCHIVEI ◄► Political Communication in Romania from a New Perspective: the Online Voter ................................................................................. 113 Andreea Elena CÂRSTEA ◄► Mass Media and the Reconfiguration of the Public Sphere ......................................................................................................... 124 III. European Union Zone – The Institutional Dimension ........................................... 133 Bogdan BERCEANU ◄► The Dimension of Emerging Institutions in the European Union Member States .............................................................................................. 135 Adina MARINCEA ◄► Who are the Olympians? A Cross-Country Analysis of People‟s Trust in the EU ......................................................................................... 151 Monica OPROIU ◄► Case-Study in Third-Party Intervention: the EU Mediation in the Russia-Georgia War of August 2008 ................................................................ 180 Vasile ROTARU ◄► The Neo-Finlandization – a Theoretical Review ......................... 193 IV. European Policies and Management Models ......................................................... 203 Vicenţia Georgiana DUŢESCU ◄►Policy Cohesion of the European Union a Perspective on the Management Authority for the Sectoral Operational Programme on Transport 2007 - 2013 .................................................................... 205 Maria-Magdalena RICHEA ◄► Models of Human Resources Management in Nonprofit Sector Organizations .............................................................................. 224 Anca-Adriana CUCU ◄► Performance Management of Health Care System in Romania: Realities and Perspectives ....................................................................... 243 Cristinela-Ionela VELICU ◄► Cross-Border Mobility of Health Professionals: an Exploratory Study of Migration Flows and Retention Policies in the CEE Region ............................................................................................................ 253 6 V. European Zone: Social Demographic Perspective ................................................... 279 Dragos Lucian IVAN ◄► As the Population Clock Winds Down or Speeds Up? Demographic Stories: Apocalyptic, Opportunistic and Realistic ............................ 281 Andra Maria POPA ◄► The Constitutionalization of the European Economic and Social Model .......................................................................................................... 297 Cristina SANDU ◄►New Paths of Social Services Through Social Entrepreneurship . 321 Mihaela TUCĂ ◄► Corporate Social Responsibility as a Supporting Framework for Country Competitiviness ......................................................................................... 331 CULTURAL IDENTITY, DIVERSITY AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION. INTRODUCTORY STUDY Mircea BRIE* István POLGÁR** Florentina CHIRODEA*** Abstract. European cultural identity reflects both the image of homogeneity and that of cultural diversity. This double perspective gives the integration process a complex dimension which makes us take into consideration not only the European unitary ensemble but also the local, regional, or national structures. “Identity revenge”, “the feeling of return to historic, national and cultural identity” are terms that ask for redefining the national and European identity space that was forced to open to the new geo-political, historical and cultural configurations. Beyond any approach, the image of the European culture is provided by the association of the concepts people – culture – history – territory. They confer a certain local specificity due to their characteristics. From this point of view, we can identify besides a European culture, a cultural area of local, regional and national specifics. Thus, we identify at least two cultural identity constructions on the European level: a culture of cultures, that is a cultural area with a strong identity on the particular, local, regional, or national levels, or a cultural archipelago, that is a joint yet disrupted cultural area. Irrespective of the perspective, we cannot deny the existence of a European cultural area, whether a diversity cultural area, or one of “disrupted continuity”. Cultural diversity, pluralism and multiculturalism are elements specific to the European area. The European integration process is complex; it does not impose and is not conditioned by the idea of cultural unity, or the existence of a common culture including all Europeans. Specificity and diversity are precisely the means of intercultural dialogue between European peoples. Each European society has to find their own integrating solutions depending on traditions and institutions. Keywords: identity, diversity, border, European Union, culture, pluralism Introduction The trends expressed in the scientific environment of the European culture are either gathered around the concept of cultural homogeneity, a phenomenon in a strong * PhD., Associate Professor, Department of International Relations and European Studies, Faculty of History International Relations, Political Sciences and Science of Communication, University of Oradea, Romania. E-mail: [email protected] ** PhD., Lecturer, Department of International Relations and European Studies, Faculty of History International Relations, Political Sciences and Science of Communication, University of Oradea, Romania. E-mail: [email protected] *** Ph.D. Lecturer, Department of International Relations and European Studies, Faculty of History, International Relations, Political Sciences and Science of Communication, University of Oradea, E-mail: [email protected] 8 Mircea BRIE, István POLGÁR, Florentina CHIRODEA causal connection with globalisation, or it designates an existing reality that cannot be denied or eliminated, that is cultural diversity. In the first case, we deal with universalization and uniformity of values, images and ideas broadcast by media or cultural industry. Within such construction, regional and national character suffers, as one may notice the insertion of a means of cultural “predominance” mainly issued by the United States of America, also known as “Americanisation” of world culture (La culture au cœur, 1998: 255-258). In the second case, cultural diversity involves plurality of ideas, images, values and expressions. They are all possible through a variety of expression and the presence of a great number of parallel local, regional, ethnic, national, etc. cultures. Moreover, given the context, certain authors speak of “identity revenge” and the “feeling of returning to historical, national and cultural identity”, particularly in an area such as Central and Eastern Europe and at a historical time when national features and identity are compelled to be redefined by being more open to the new geopolitical, historical, or cultural configurations (David and Florea, 2007: 645-646). Beyond the relative epistemological antagonism of the approach, our debate can have slight variations. The field of cultural cooperation tends to become “multipolar”,