*** GERARD BOUCHARD: L’Europe en quête d’Européens. Pour un nouveau rapport entre Bruxelles et les nations. 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 ). "Diversitas", No. 22. 2017, 224 pp. €39, £32, $47.95. ISBN 978-2-8076-0337-0.
Gérard Bouchard is emeritus professor at the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi and also an historian and sociologist. In this book, he poses a number of important questions and calls on the European Union to regenerate its symbolic foundations “to make it a source of solidarity" and rehabilitate the myth, in order to reconcile it with Europe's citizens. He believes that this is of the uttermost urgency because European construction is “an unprecedented attempt to create a societal link on a very wide scale" but has now become a victim of deep popular disenchantment that has put it in mortal danger. The problem a lot of readers are inclined to encounter in this context can be located in the fact that his wish to move forward with ideas that help “reduce the old tension between Brussels and the nations" will create a certain amount of ambiguity, even though he explains on one occasion that in his mind, these nations are “the people”.
In the first part of his book, this specialist in the collective imagination and social and national myths explains what “the concept of the symbolic foundation” is before proceeding to a list of cultural choices upon which the European adventure was based and, above all, providing a critical analysis of this. He therefore highlights “the contempt of the Europeanist elites in the locus of the nation (not to be confused with the state), the different forms of nationalism and the democratic process”, which he considers in a certain way to be a congenital defect. The result of this is that although the Union is not “totally bereft of democracy” at the moment in time it is infirm at this level because it is lacking one essential factor, namely, “the power of the people to identify its governments when it is dissatisfied with its policies”. It is an irrefutable argument but who is responsible for this defect? The “European elites” to a large extent…Gérard Bouchard also identifies a “symbolic deficit" particularly visible by way of “a lack of solidarity that is obstructing a fairer redistribution of wealth" and leading to “the great story of the creation of the EU as an altruistic enterprise stemming from the Enlightenment and Christian humanism, under the leadership of intelligent and magnanimous leaders but which has not stood the test of time and whose project has now become unstuck”. This is obviously not false but nothing is said about who is responsible for this regressive evolution.
The third chapter is entitled “the nation in custody" and in which Gérard Bouchard tackles the question of the “marginalisation of nations or national cultures (not to be confused with states)". He argues that European dynamics includes three factors, “the Europeanist elites”, in particular, then, “the political leaders of the member states" and finally, “the respective populations of the member states". This is a bizarre distribution insofar as the political leaders of the member states are, in reality, the only real “leaders of the EU" who count, which the author overtly confirms by recognising that the heads of state and government directly blame the European Union “for the unpopular decisions that they have, nonetheless, sponsored in Brussels but from which they subsequently distance themselves to their clientele”. Suddenly, the respective populations of the member states are becoming confused. Moreover, these populations embody the people of the Union and “constitute the nations” which appear out of sync with current developments in the European Union: “the lack of proximity between Brussels and the nations has further been exacerbated by the fact that the EU is associated with neoliberalism and perceived as a threat to democracy and social policies”. This Canadian university professor then goes on to say that “insofar as the member states are seen as being complicit with this drift, they are no longer real allies to their citizens”. This could therefore, indeed, lead one to consider that the current democratic deficit is the result of an incomplete political project. As a counterweight to do this, the author appears to prefer the alternative of "the resistance and power of national cultures”. He has certainly got a point but is it really a necessary to counterpose this against Europe because the state and the government and not the “Europeanist elites” are inciting the reactions we are witnessing because they are behaving like despots? Michel Theys
*** MIGUEL PAPÍ BOUCHER: Nel Consejo Europeo entre el derecho y la realidad. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estato (24 Av. de Manoteras, E-28050 Madrid. Tel: (34-91) 1114000 – Internet: http://www.boe.es )."Derecho Público” series. 2017, 603 pp. €27.55. ISBN 978-84-340-2418-2.
This impressive volume focuses exclusively on the European Council and the youngest of the Union institutions because this institution effectively came about with the Lisbon Treaty. Miguel Papí is a director at the European Parliament and goes right back to the origins, namely, the creation of the European Council, on the initiative of French President Giscard d’Estaing during a summit of the heads of state and governments in December 1974, in Paris. On the basis of this initiative, he explains how this body brought together the most senior political leaders in the member states of the European Community at the time and in the Union as it developed with the respect treaties. This retrospective also examines the functional role played by the heads of state and government, particularly during the crises the Union had to confront in 2008 with either the Greek crisis, turbulence in the Eurozone, the migration crisis or Brexit. The author also emphasises that the real novelty involves the creation of a stable presidency of the European Council. Miguel Papí asserts that this body did not disturb the initial institutional balance, as confirmed by former Spanish Prime Minister, José María Aznar, in his preface. (MT)
*** PANAYIOTIS KARKATSOULIS: Se diriger dans la crise. Editions Sideris (116 rue Solonos, Gr-10681 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3833434 – fax: 3832294 – Email: contact@isideris.gr). 2017, 272 pp. €18. ISBN 978-960-080738-7.
The texts making up this book are much more than simple administrative prescriptions and just slightly less than scientific treaties. Panayiotis Karkatsoulis is a lecturer at the National School of Public Administration and for more than thirty years has been publishing and writing in an effort to provide his readers with an awareness about the necessity of reforming the organisations of the Greek state and how they function. His other objective has been to make a contribution to the scientific debate about effective administrative management. In 2012 he received the International Prize for Public Administration and explains that the Greek crisis involved a defective model of governance, “State patronage”. He effectively describes a picture of a nepotistic state in all its different functions and goes far beyond the simple recruitment systems based on favouritism. Since 2015 he has been a member of the Greek parliament where he was elected on behalf of the centre-left To Potami party (The River) and proposes replacing the system with a new kind of administration based on the good practices of other countries but adapted to the specificities of Greece and offering the country’s citizens different but more highly performing modes of operation in all areas off legislative work, multilevel governance, the management of human capital, budgetary aspects and quality public services. (AKa)
*** CHRISTIANA CONSTANDOPOULOU (Editors) : Les récits de la crise. Mythes et réalités de la société moderne grecque. Editions Papazisi (2 rue Nikitara, GR-10678 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3822496 – fax: 3809020 – Email: papazisi@otenet.gr – Internet: www. papazisi.gr). 2017, 354 pp. €16. ISBN 978-960-02-3323-0.
The national narrative or the way in which a society describes itself by developing a myth is particularly important because humanity understands reality through the symbols that become basic sociological axioms. Experts are rediscovering the ability for storytelling in an effort to “create" a new reality. The development of information and communication technologies also creates more stories that circulate and which are often forced to confront one other. Therefore, the crisis of the social system in general (dominated by market capitalism) and the way in which it affects Greece and the region surrounding it has led to a number of contradictory exclamatory narratives. The “serious" narratives or the so called scientific ones have made a reference to the role of spreads or the importance of the Dow Jones index, while the less “serious" stories (but no less important in the analysis) have invented the concept of “Pigs” to describe Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, which have led, undoubtedly, to political interpretations that cannot go unignored. In this book, edited by the sociologist, Christiana Constandopoulou (Pantheon University in Athens), around 15 researchers and media specialists present and analyse a “panorama" of narratives describing the Greek crisis in the media, school and cultural activities. It is a key book in any interpretation of the Greek crisis. (AKa)
*** PEPI RIGOPOULOU (editor): L'image de la Grèce dans les médias. La fierté culturelle et les préjugés. Editions Sideris (see address attached). 2017, 256 pp. €18. ISBN 978-960-08-0743-1.
This book is the result of academic research carried out at the Laboratory of Arts and Cultural Management at the Centre of Mass Media Studies at the National University of Athens. What is the image of Greece? How has it been constructed by European media and, above all, by German media, over the past few years? How has Greek media responded to these images? Have they been rejected or, on the contrary, accepted? It is to the these questions that the authors have provided responses by seeking to see how these images penetrate or fail to resonate with the respective interpretations of the political and economic situations. Under the supervision of a professor of philosophy, they therefore discuss the persisting trend to discuss the question of the national pride of the Greek people gradually withering away and who have been forced to submit to apparently stronger partners. They also highlight how certain foreign media has depicted Greece by way of cultural stereotypes, such as on the cover of the German magazine, Focus, which showed Venus de Milo “giving the finger" in an obscene gesture to illustrate the fallaciousness of historic data and defamatory assertions. The foreign media were consulted over the 2010-13 period; German newspapers of the different political tendencies were also analysed with regard to events over the 2015-16 period; 1500 press illustrations were also examined and 150 were published in the book. The different contributions are made by both Greek and foreign journalists and intellectuals. One lengthy article by the Greek philosopher, Effie Latsoudis, warrants particular mention and provides a testimony regarding the refugee problem on the island of Lesbos. (AKa)
*** Politique. Revue belge d’analyse et de débat. ASBL Politique (9 rue du Faucon, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5386996 – email: info@politique.eu.org – Internet: http://www.revuepolitique.org ). December 2017, No.102, 132 pp. €12. Subscription: €45 (€40 for PDF, €50 for both versions).
The most recent issue of this progressive Belgian French-speaking journal contains a very comprehensive feature article on cohabitation between “Belgians and Muslims”. This is obviously a very current theme and worthy of attention in all the other member states of the European Union. It is even more the case given that the different insights and analyses developed know no borders, for example, when the question of Islam is tackled by the specialist in Islamic studies and theologian, Michaël Privot, who defends the idea that we have we have less of a need for a Belgian or European version of Islam but rather, "an Islam of our time, which incorporates within it the most noble humane aspirations and which strives to accompany, indeed, inspire humanity’s humble efforts in this direction”. The position of women occupies a significant position in these reflections. It should be pointed out that there is also a contribution made by the philosopher and diplomat, Pierre Ansay, who interprets capitalism as a social relationship to be either subverted or to be suffered ad infinitum. There is also the question of the state of the Left in Israel, in light of the talks facilitated there by an anthropologist and philosopher by way of films, whereas a sociologist (Eric Fassin) and political scientist (Arthur Borriello) provide their responses in a dialogue to the question of whether one should be “for or against the populism of the left” as embodied by Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France or Podemos in Spain. Finally, the editor in chief, Henri Goldman, has the good sense to point out when and where the left was born and whose first beginnings were exclusively male and white... (MT)