*** MARCO MASCIA: Participatory Democracy for Global Governance. Civil Society Organisations in the European Union. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). “Human Rights Studies” series, No. 2. 2012, 170 pp. €42.80. ISBN 978-2-87574-008-3.
The fact that democracy cannot be any better than the shape it assumes appears pretty obvious. One of the messages developed in this publication is that it will only be able to recover its complexion when it frees itself from the traditional political forces confined within national borders. Marco Mascia points out that democracy is a method and practice but it is also, above all, a value. Stemming from this observation he makes the subsequent call for radical change, “Today, the more stringently we proclaim the democratic principles as bonded to human rights, the more this common-sense caveat gains credence”. Genuine regeneration of democracy will therefore, according to Mascia, be developed through the activism of civil society organisations and their collaboration with international political organisations such as the United Nations and the different agencies, as well as a European Union, which, at a regional level is a particularly valuable, “laboratory of innovative governance”.
This professor of international relations at the University of Padua, where he heads the Inter-Departmental Centre on Human Rights and the Rights of Peoples, as well as the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence, is not the first to defend this line. He subsequently points out in his introduction that many academics before him had developed theories involving of the dawning of a “global society”, the increasingly powerful movement for “global social change” and the affirmation of “global civil society”, which will provide the framework, “for a new international order within which the nation-state is no longer the single, exclusive holder of sovereignty”. Obviously, we are no longer living in a time where nation states can control everything. Neither can they claim to be the exclusive agencies in which the expectations of their respective populations are expressed, given that a variety of citizens interest group networks cover the planet and are making more frequent calls for the world to be managed in the interest of solidarity and the common good of humanity (paraphrasing the terms used in a UN report). The author believes that this legitimacy should also be appraised in the context of an increasingly complex global interdependency, the affirmation of new international law that is more respectful of human and fundamental rights of individuals and peoples and ultimately the arrival on to central stage of transnational non-governmental players. The latter are increasingly likely to express the wishes of a global civil society, which, no matter what the states themselves think, will not be pushed around and will definitely contribute to shaping the democracy of tomorrow's world.
This book seeks to verify whether civil society organisations are indeed the agents and vectors of democratic change in the new global architecture. In the first part of the book, Marco Mascia sheds light on the different aspects of this pro-democracy movement that is both trans-national and international. In the second chapter, he scrutinises the ways in which civil society organisations, in particular non-governmental organisations, operate in the global governance process guided by the United Nations, particularly in light of the recent collaborative work undertaken with the international courts. Finally, his last two chapters look at the role of civil society organisations in the political system of the European Union, which has been a pioneer in this area. In the conclusions that he draws, Professor Mascia confirms that the UN system is now, “the most highly qualified to function as a laboratory for the construction of democratic world governance” and for helping pave the way from the Westphalian order and absolute sovereignties that have for too long provided a cradle for war. In this perspective, the European Union has provided a precious precedent for multiple levels of governance by opening the way up to civil society and, even more so, promoting the sharing of significant portions of member states' sovereignty. Obviously, this is not to the taste of certain quarters, such as London or even The Hague, now, as well as undoubtedly a number of other countries too. This begs the question of whether civil societies will allow themselves to become the tenants of the old order and soldiers of the old guard for an increasingly contested representative democracy that is less and less in harmony with our current world.
Michel Theys
*** JÓZEF NIZNIK: Democracy versus Solidarity in the EU Discourse. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-1542 Pieterlen. Tel: (32-2) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Studies in European Integration, State and Society" series, No. 1. 2012, 124 pp. €24.95. ISBN 978-3-631-63877-4.
Will democracy within the Union become a growing barrier to solidarity? A professor in the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Józef Niznik, is afraid of this becoming the case and subsequently joins the increasing ranks of observers who have been expressing concern about the growing nationalist backlash in many member states. The Dutch government appears to be the most recent to have given in to this temptation (EUROPE 10874 Wednesday 26 June, p. 5). Mr Niznik has been observing and studying this issue for a long time, particularly in light of the conflict between it and the founding values of European construction. This includes the obligation for member states to show their credentials if they wish to have access to the Community club and the principle of solidarity, which, since the Schuman Declaration, is supposed to be the prevailing guideline. Nonetheless, it has become pretty obvious that there are many examples demonstrating that, “domestic politics and local political interests, can by referring to democratic procedures orchestrate popular opposition against the decisions which are essential for practical demonstration of solidarity in the EU”. It is this tension that Niznik consistently identifies in his different studies and which, in this book, outline the themes of identity, citizenship, nationalism and communication. In these intellectual peregrinations, the author concludes that, “despite the nationalistic appeals of some domestic politicians”, the European adventure began 60 years ago remains more than ever, “the most rational solution in a contemporary world where unity does not contradict truth”.
(MT)
*** Le Revue générale. Revue générale asbl (41 ch. de Louvain, B-1320 Hamme-Mille. Tel: (32-10) 866629 - fax: 866691 - Email: la.revue.generale@live.be - Internet: http://www.revuegenerale.be ). 2013, No. 6/7, 115 pp. €16 annual subscription: €99 (Belgium), €109 (European Union), €119 (outside EU).
In this issue, a recent retiree from the Commission and former journalist, Renaud Denuit, exclaims that, “to our Croatian friends, we welcome you to our disorientated club… which has lost its sense of direction and indications that would help the different communities identify a course of action… for their respective leaders”. Jerzy Lukaszewski is no more optimistic and in his penetrating analysis, he describes the different problems causing the Franco-German engine “engine” to stall. The honorary rector of the College of Europe and former Polish ambassador to France demonstrates an equally harsh but friendly attitude to this country, particularly because of its involvement in paying more attention to Gaullist mirages than to the miracle that Schuman and Adenauer helped to become a reality. He doesn't pull his punches and asserts that, “the affirmation of the Elysée treaty in 1963 represents a decisive turning point in Franco German relations and in the eyes of an impartial observer, reveals a landscape of political myths that abound throughout France's history or, more exactly, in its official presentation of this history”. Suddenly, other engines are being started up …
(MT)
*** JEAN-ARNAULT DÉRENS: La Croatie de A à Z. André Versaille éditeur (7 rue d'Alost, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2133705 - Email: information@andreversailleediteur.com - Internet: http://www.andreversailleediteur.com ). "Les Abécédaires du voyageur" series. 2012, 238 pp., €14.90. ISBN 978-2-87495-159-6.
The guides published in this collection are decidedly and singularly unique insofar as they are effectively invitations to discover a specific people, its habits (good and less good), its traditions, history and the different aspects of its culture. At the very moment that Croatia and its people are joining the Union, this elementary guide devised by an historian and specialist journalist from the Balkans, proves to be particularly insightful in its illustration of the other side of the postcard and the way in which it allows us to get to know the most recent member of the club better. With the entry of the “Adriatic” and in this case, Croatia, the author describes the roots and realities of a country that is both Mediterranean and Central European but more importantly, largely unknown. As is customary, this publication is also accompanied by a website that provides a wealth of photographs, videos and picture stories. It is as ever, an excellent model of its kind!
(MT)