Now Let Us Make Europeans - Citizenship, Solidarity and Identity in a Multicultural Europe

Abstract

The Euro crisis has hit "Europe" (the European Union, or EU) at its root. Economic harshness, social unrest and political turmoil betray a deeper problem: a weak pan-European sense of belonging - a common political identity thanks to which European citizens may regard each other as equals, and therefore as deserving of recognition, trust, and solidarity. This paper explores interculturalism from an analogical perspective, looking at the harmonious interplay between human rights and cultural plurality, as a possible source of trust and solidarity among European citizens. Only a common - even if analogical - political identity, whereby European citizens regard each other, if not as "siblings" at least as "cousins," can make the sacrifices required to overcome the crisis meaningful - and therefore less unlikely to happen.