Globalization and Identity in Europe

What is globalization Globalization is characterized by the movement of capital, information and productive investment European integration is both a reaction to globalization and its most advanced expression The integration of capital markets, and the establishment of a single currency, require the homogenization of macro-economic conditions

The challenge to the nation-state Globalization has lead to transformations which challenge the nation-state as a sovereign entity-- >commands of the state cannot be fully enforced and some of its fundamental promises (the welfare state) cannot be kept The whirlwind of globalization is triggering defensive reactions around the world, often organized around principles of national and territorial identity

European Unification The shaping of European unification by this multidimensional globalization has profound and lasting consequences for European societies Since the acceleration of the integration process Europeans have had to adapt to rising unemployment, greater social inequality, widespread job insecurity-- >significant sections of the European population tend to affirm their nations The insecurity is enhanced by the growing multi- ethnicity and multiculturalism of European societies, which trigger racism and xenophobia as people reaffirm their identity against a supranational state

Search for Identity The appeal to national identity is more complicated in plural-national states like Spain (and the UK and Belgium)-->The retrenchment around the principle of national identity is strengthening the nation-states against the EU in some countries, while reinforcing the EU against the current nation-states in others The search for identity as an antidote to economic globalization also permeates below the level of the nation-state, adding new dynamism to regions/cities

What does it mean to be European? Regions/cities have become critical actors in establishing strategies of economic development and have established European networks European unification requires European identity. If meaning is linked to identity, and identity remains exclusively national, regional or local, European integration remains in doubt beyond the limits of the common market Do the people of the Basque country (or Catalonia) feel European? Do they (we) know what that means?