Communitarian Citizenship

"Europe ... oscillates between the ‘ought’ of a hospitable, user friendly planet determined to attain and secure a sustainable life for all its residents, and a planet of deepening disparities, tribal animosities and intertribal fences, a planet ever less fit for human habitation."

"The ongoing institutional unification of Europe may … prove to be … a defensive move prompted by the impulse to defend Europe’s ‘is’ - its privileged life standards amidst worldwide deprivation against the ‘ought’ of its challenging, uncomfortable yet imperative planetary responsibilities."

Zygmunt Bauman

In this book Zygmunt Bauman describes the years from 1945 to the coming of globalisation in glowing terms:

“ … for thirty glorious years … the great social experiment of mitigating the unacceptable extremes of unbridled capitalism … while averting the … raw and uncouth communist version of social equity … Europe was searching … for ‘third way’ …

“The result was a social state … a state the measured the quality of the whole society by the quality of life of its weakest and most sorely injured citizens.”

“The ‘social state’ model entailed … a target of ’full employment’ - a shorthand term for the reassertion of every citizen’s importance, indeed indispensability, for the wealth and welfare of society as a whole.

“The aim … went hand in hand with the postulated fullness of citizenship: along side the ‘consumer side’, the right to partake of the benefits from the growing national wealth, went with the right to participate in the creation of that wealth, and, consequently in the running of public (considered as common and shared) affairs, and to have a part in determining the nature of the public (considered as common and shared) interests … (socializing) the risks of endemic to the capitalist economy and market competition, (and signalling) the effort of universal inclusion, through the body politic, in a society evolving towards the ideal type of community.”

Reading José Manuel Barroso's you could be forgiven for thinking that none of this had happened, and that Europe as it exists today is some kind of intermediary between its component nations and a globalised world.

But what role can it possibly be performing? The rules of globalisation are set by the three US dominated bodies: the IMF, The World Bank, and the World Trade Organisation.

As you would expect, Zygmunt Bauman looks beneath the surface and sees a "Hobbesian" United States which, like Rome, can only expand:

" ... to sustain its imperial position the empire must time and again put its weapons on public and spectacular, and so convincing, display."

Or, as President Bush put it:

"Victory in Iraq is vital for the security of a generation of Americans who are coming up," he said. "And so we will stay in Iraq, we will fight in Iraq and we will win in Iraq."

America, claims Bauman, lives with the legacy of isolation, believing that it:

" ... should keep others at a distance .. Should beware false, shifty and unreliable friends … more than … explicit enemies - since there is no telling how long the friendship … will be on offer … "

It's opinion of Europe is disdainful, as in Donald Rumsfeld's dismissal of "old Europe" - a toothless geriatric.

Like it or not, Europe - for the first time in its history - lives in the shadow of a greater power:

"On a Fukuyama/Hobbesian planet, USA military might … (the) police force of global capitalism can deliver blows at will and at random … fearing little and hoping to emerge from the short, sharp encounter undamaged; … In its triumphant seemingly unstoppable march through the planetary casino, capital confronts instead numerous competitors eager to play the same game … One variety of adversaries that capital does not come across are the proponents of and realistic embodiments of an alternative form of life that would entail the abolition of the casino … "

Zygmunt Bauman's analysis of Europe's plight is nowhere addressed by José Manuel Barroso, nor should we expect it: a bureaucrat appointed - like some latter-day John Major - because he was not someone else, is concerned mainly to enhance his own position, and to play his part in the tussle between an intergovernmental Europe - not in his interests - and a supranational Europe in which he could expect to be much more powerful, but a globalised Europe, an integral part of Bauman's planetary casino.

The statesmen who founded the European Union came from two great traditions:

• Christian Democracy
• Social Democracy

• Konrad Adenauer
• Alcide de Gasperi
• Robert Schuman
• Paul-Henri Spaak
• Jean Monnet

Christian Democracy is worth looking at further, since its belief system places it in opposition to the laissez-faire tradition of the English Conservative Party and the economic 'policies' (or lack of them) of early 1800s, as resurrected after 1979.

The basis of Christian Democracy is Pope Leo XIII's encyclical: Rerum Novarum.

"Rerum Novarum" was written under the perceived shadow - threat? - of Marxism/Socialism to private enterprise and "property". However, it recognised " ... the utter poverty of the masses".

After 1945, Christian Democracy thrived in West Germany - and other Western European countries - in the form of the Social market economy, or "Ordoliberalism".

The social market economy seeks a middle path between socialism and capitalism (i.e. a mixed economy) and aims at maintaining a balance between a high rate of economic growth, low inflation, low levels of unemployment, good working conditions, social welfare, and public services, by using state intervention.

Significantly, in respect of the growth of unrestrained markets after 1979, "Ordoliberalism" recognized the dangers, as had "Trust Busting" legislation in the US:

According to Ordoliberalism (also called German neoliberalism), the state must create a proper legal environment for the economy and maintain a healthy level of competition through measures that adhere to market principles.

The concern is that, if the state does not take active measures to foster competition, firms with monopoly (or oligopoly) power will emerge, which will not only subvert the advantages offered by the market economy, but also possibly undermine democracy itself, since strong economic power can be transformed into political power.

How prescient!

A basic tension exists within the European Union between intergovernmentalism and supranationalism.

Intergovernmentalism is a method of decision-making in international organisations where power is possessed by the member states and decisions are made by unanimity. Independent appointees of the governments or elected representatives have solely advisory or implementational functions. Intergovernmentalism is used by most international organisations today.

An alternative method of decision-making in international organisations is supranationalism.

In supranationalism power is held by independent appointed officials or by representatives elected by the legislatures or people of the member states. Member state governments still have power, but they must share this power with other actors. Furthermore, decisions are made by majority votes, hence it is possible for a member-state to be forced by the other member-states to implement a decision against its will.

This problem can only be resolved by returning to the question: What's Europe Good For?

It is a question addressed by Zygmun Bauman. Europe, he believes, has

" ... a planetary mission to perform ... " recognising that " ... there is no viable or plausible alternative, since the security and well-being of one part of the globe can no longer be achieved, let alone guaranteed, unless the right to a secure and dignified life is extended to all, both in letter and deed."

And that mission must be to confront the United States and work towards " ... the abolition of the planetary casino ... " which is globalisation.

Then, and only then, will Europe be true to "The Great Experiment", and then men who initiated it.

The EU's reaction to the credit crunch, with its devasting impact on Greece, Ireland and Spain has demonstrated that - like the
ante-diluvian Cameron-Clegg coalition in the UK - appeasing the markets comes first, the well-being of citizens comes last.

IMF says Spain taking right steps

In Ireland, a Picture of the High Cost of Austerity

Reform the euro or bin it

The Third Depression