The polar star

Europe’s difficulties are evident, but the solutions for recovery are not as much. It is necessary to “curb the public burden and reconsider an identity that is appropriate to the global context, countering the nihilistic trends of 21st century capitalism”. In brief, this is the opinion of Mauro Magatti, dean of the Faculty of Sociology of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan (Italy). In an article published on n.5 of “Vita e Pensiero”, bimonthly cultural magazine of the Atheneum, Magatti describes the prognosis of the Continent as “serious”. However, he hopes that “the difficulties raised in the new historical phase will serve as an the occasion for a ‘renascence’ of the spirit of Europe, as it happened on various occasions in the course of its millenary history”.The analysis. The problems experienced in Europe, points out the scholar, “involve all aspects of social life: from the disappointing performances in the realm of innovation and productivity, to rapid population ageing (only partly counterbalanced by the arrival of new populations of migrants, victims of strong social tensions); from the shocking experience of impotence caused by the tragic Balkan crisis in the 1990s up to citizens’ widespread mistrust of national and continental institutions, representing fertile grounds for advancing regionalist and autonomist claims, and even for fiercely anti-democratic sentiments”. All of this is “made worse by thriving financial difficulties across many States, gripping with increasingly troublesome deficits”.“Smiling nihilism”. According to Magatti Europe’s “participation in the acceleration of economic growth has only been tangential”. Indeed, the prevailing feeling is that “of having crossed a long period of standstill”. Furthermore, “without the coverage of a global vision and policy”, it was forced “to play an impossible match, since an increasing number of social issues could not be met without adequate development”. Indeed, on the cultural plane “European nihilism was particularly harsh, to the point of weakening the propulsive thrust stemming from individual initiative. As it is incapable to provide a role for herself on the new international landscape, Europe is tuning in on itself more and more” before “an unprecedented form of ‘smiling nihilism’ which contents itself with dismounting, without ever seeking to solve present and future problems”.Undertaking a “de-statism” process. According to the sociologist, in order to exit the crisis “we must bear in mind” that Europe “is currently one of the world’s greatest open-air workshops” and that its rebirth will be possible provided that it will “encourage individual and social resources with the purpose of erecting a truly plural society marked by solidarity”. According to Magatti, in a cultural tradition which is excessively “centered on the role of the State” it is necessary to enhance social partners, whose current “fragility at European level” is due to “widespread statism”. It is therefore necessary to undertake a “process” of ‘de-statism’ which doesn’t simply coincide with market expansion, but rather with the identification and implementation of common goods, which while stimulating and substantiating mutual recognition processes, enable investing on individuals and social communities, stepping up the sense of participation and responsibility”. “External” European identity. It is a sustainable initiative “provided that it is compensated by a stronger European Strategy” involving a “global economic policy with a European matrix” expressing “a common sense of belonging and identity”. For Magatti European identity “is perhaps easier to define and more appealing to European citizens if conceived against the European background”, namely, “if linked to its challenges and interlocutors”. “Considering the relationship between Europe and the rest of the world is a way to promote the identification of issues with non-zero sum game”. Hence the possibility “of taking a European stand on labour market or financial regulations, which would enhance common interests”. Despite its multifariousness, European history shares attentions that could represent the polar star of an action on the global plane. This patrimony, for example, consists in stating that democracy and rights go hand in hand, that the world needs to reach its complex balances, that market performance depends on its regulations, that work must be respected as such, that diversity is a source of enrichment, that the method of dialogue and debate is ineffective in the short-run, but that its effects are to be seen in the middle and long term”. On these themes, Magatti concludes, European stances should be jointly expressed, thus expressing a policy that could affect its very conditions, involving European interests and citizens alike”.