Tag: Europe
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A Dual Struggle for the Present and Future of Europe
Back in 2013, in his provocative article ‘The Latin Empire should strike back’, Giorgio Agamben revived the idea of a union of southern European countries, a proposal first launched by another philosopher, Alexandre Kojève. During the ongoing economic crisis, we have read and heard many times about the north-south divide within the European Union or…
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Why the Brussels Attacks Call for More Europe
As every European, I am deeply shocked about the Brussels terror attacks that struck at the heart of Europe last Tuesday. This first major attack on European ground in 2016 and one of the sadly already numerous attacks worldwide this year has affected me all the more, as it’s not so long ago that I…
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Nationalism Needs More than Breaking down – It Needs Dissolving
In Response to ‘Breaking down the Term Nationalism‘ by Andreas Dafnos Last week, Andreas posted an article arguing that the blanket condemnation of nationalism found in pro-European thought is too heavy-handed. Instead, we should draw a distinction between an exclusionary holistic form of nationalism and an inclusionary liberal form. The former is expressed most clearly…
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Reflex-Based Politics is Bad Politics
Do you know who is Prime Minister of the State Saxony? Probably not. Stanislaw Tillich was fairly unknown outside Germany until recently, and even within Germany very few people had ever heard of him. Saxony has recently hit the headlines as being a hotspot for German xenophobia with the highest number of xenophobic attacks on…
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Breaking down the Term Nationalism
Nationalism constitutes a value-laden word and conjures up memories of an abhorrent and dark past that swept Europe during the 20th century; a historical period fraught with acts of extreme savagery. To have and express nationalist sentiments can often be problematic in the current context as it might connote a repulsive reflection of human nature…
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Queerness and the Gay-Friendly Right Wing in Europe
How homophobic is the European far right? While right-wing populist parties do not particularly stand out as the most gay-friendly ones, many of their supporters would probably say that they’re not homophobic at all! Increasingly, parties such as the Front National (FN) in France, the Dutch Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV), or the German Alternative…
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It is Our Duty to Help the Refugees
These days it is not easy to write an article about the refugee issue since the conditions change every day. Still, in my view we can identify three main tendencies, which have surfaced recently: 1) the return of borders· the re-introduction of border controls and even the construction of walls and fences, 2) a shift…
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Europe: A Brief History of Its Idea from Ancient Greece to Montesquieu
My name is Giuseppe, I am 26 years old. I work in a library. I have a degree in Classical Literature and now I am studying Philosophy. I live in Eboli, a small town in southern Italy. The first clear description of modern Europe – of its culture and many other aspects – originates from…