The disease of old Europe

His analyses of "de-socialization" have triggered a hot debate across Europe, probably due to the fact that professor Matthew Fforde, (GB) raised a set of questions which have gained topical relevance, namely, the relations between social and economic trends, cultural dynamics, demographic transformation processes, prospects of mass migration… with an understanding that crosses national borders and which takes into account the teachings of the social doctrine of the Church. Born in London, Fforde graduated from Oxford university, where he also taught. He currently teaches Contemporary History at Rome’s Lumsa university. His recent publication, "Desocialisation. The Crisis of Post-modernity", has been translated into Italian, French, Slovakian, and it will soon be published also in German and Spanish. Gianni Borsa interviewed him for SIR Europe. A research by demographers at the Max Plank institute in Rostok, Germany, shows that crisis has direly affected birth rates in Europe. Unemployment and economic precariousness discourages young peoples from creating a family and having children. These figures have been noted in those countries mostly affected by recession, but also in Central and Northern Europe. Professor, what do you think of this situation? "Demographic figures are evident in Western Europe. Current mentalities have surely contributed to this situation (which deserves in-depth analysis, also from the historical angle) along with growing youth unemployment rates, and the recent economic downturn. As relates to low birth rates, also other factors should be taken into account, which relate to the post-modernity period (approximately the past fifty years). The culture of the family as an institution and that of paternity and maternity has thus been weakened. We also should take stock of the reality of contraception, and it should not be forgotten that in a certain way we’re facing a crisis in conception as well as a crisis in births. Had we allowed children killed by abortion to be born, demographic figures in Western Europe would have been different. In other words, the latest circumstances should be put into context".Your Country, along with Germany, has often anticipated Europe’s social dynamics. Is there a similar problem also in the UK? "The United Kingdom doesn’t have the same levels of demographic growth as Italy. But low-birth rates are evident, and the government’s welfare reform plans are addressing the causes as well as the medium and long-term consequences. My feeling is that we are facing deeply engrained cultural transformations, which policymakers often fail to identify or they lack the power to intervene".Fewer children, ageing population… does this also undermine welfare systems in Europe? "Fewer children and ageing population will certain weigh heavily upon the pension system, on welfare and on national health services. But the situation should be viewed in the framework of the crisis of the family (which recent Popes often referred to) which means – considering the number of divorces, legal separations and singles – that millions of old people we be living on their own and will be forced to turn to the government – and no longer to their own children – for support. This crisis in the family is typical of a major ‘desocialization’ process – closely bound to de-Christianization -, namely, the loss of those very social bonds which over the past decades have afflicted West European societies. This could represent and invitation to stop and ask ourselves whether the path we have followed until now, in an era marked by the weakening of Christian culture, is seriously flawed".Along with the economic crisis, Europe has continued to register a remarkable increase in the number of migrants. As it often happens, migrant families have more children than European families, thus preventing demographic collapse. Could migrants become a resource for Europe from this perspective? "Mass migration has been a feature of West European societies over the past decades. This pressure is doomed to continue. I believe it is a form of development over which we haven’t reflected enough, and which often falls victim of slogans and polarizations. It’s an issue that ought to adressed with great sensitivity. For example, we must reflect on the economic resources available for immigrants during this phase of acute economic crisis, as it’s also true that the consequences of internal cultural discontinuity emerge that might be caused by mass migration flows, with consequences in terms of social cohesion and identity. ‘Desocialization’, from this perspective, could go against integration".