part 1 - part
2 - part 3 - part
4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7
It
is true that the views of the English are more
colorful than most, as they refuse even to recognise
that they are a part of geographical Europe.
The anti-Europeans in most continental countries
limit their rejection to the political or economic
direction of the EU, but do not contest their
own European geography and culture.
Talking
to participants after the meeting, I quickly get
a sense of the issues that trouble them. They
affirm that 'we' should remain independent from 'them',
that 'we’ should not be ruled by 'foreigners'.
In the process, each person I speak to seems to assume
that they represent the entire nation, that there
could be no other view, unless it is expressed by
a traitor. Still these voices cannot be ignored,
for they are just as much a part of today's Europe
as anybody else, for they have their own world view,
complete with values and beliefs.
Curiously though, when asked to name the changes
to English society that they dislike, the list
is full of things that most other Europeans associate
with "Americanisation". Top of the chart
is the break down in family values, the consequent
rise in crime and pervasiveness of the 'fast food'
society. Some of the less charming members of the
audience go on to list immigration as a major evil,
with particular vehemence against 'coloreds' and
'gypsies'.
An element of this conservatism is shared in other
parts of Europe. To some in Germany, the EU is
seen as having troubled the post-war consensus
around the Deutsche Mark by its introduction of
the Euro. To some in France it is seen as forcing
unwanted liberalisation of sectors (need I mention
the words “Bolkenstein Directive”,
with associated job losses. But is conservatism
of this sort a long-term issue? Once the change
has been operated, what then? In this sense, the
English conservatism is the more curious, for the
woes they list are not caused by the EU at all
- on the contrary, the EU is designed to tackle
them more effectively.
Beyond this, however, there was a clear fear in this
age cohort of the population that somehow, by "becoming" Europeans,
they become less English. This worry is both curious
and understandable. Curious, as the UK - contrary
to popular affirmation - is not a nation state.
It is a multi-national state. When Scotland plays
England at soccer, it is an international match.
Odd therefore, as England has lived with the acceptance
that there can be more than one culture, which
co-exists and shares power despite different identities.
It is also understandable however. For the English
- unlike the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish -
will often consider that England is Britain and
Britain is England. They make no distinction, and
describe these other cultures as subsets of their
own. The idea that different levels of belonging
can co-exist rarely penetrates the conscious mind.
Moreover, the nature of the UK's government has
until now provided little room for self-expression
by the different nations. In consequence, the English
may assume that any form of European unity must
imply the same sort of centralism that they inflicted
on their neighbors.
The voices I hear also cry the clarion call of the
country being 'run by the Germans' as if the whole
exercise of the EU was to surrender sovereignty
to one nation. This bizarre notion nevertheless
exerts a powerful attractive force on the popular
psyche. Even if the proposition is ridiculous,
its appeal is immediate, suffused as it is with
strong undertones of xenophobia.
For those brought up in the post-war a change from
this mindset is difficult to imagine. As I look
around the room, I realise that there is a strong
generational dimension. Sadly, I also reflect that
this is the generation currently in power. So is
the whole process of European integration doomed
to failure, bound to be cast upon the rock of conservatism,
identity and xenophobia? In one sense, the EU runs
the same risk of public rejection as the globalisation
it seeks to control. However, unlike the technology
driving globalisation, there is nothing inevitable
or unstoppable about the EU, and it could be derailed.
One reassurance would be if it were mainly a generational
question. But sadly a little later I find a headline
that belies this wishful thinking. It comes from
the "Times" of London and simply states "Children
told to attack Germans". The article explains
how a group of German school kids were assaulted
by English children who were ordered to attack
'the Nazis' by their parents. Welcome to England
in the new millennium!
Does this mean the English are universally xenophobic?
Here there is a paradox, for they are certainly
not. For another feature that has to be factored
in is that of language. Whatever the age of my
interlocutor, the English in particular, but with
echoes among the French, Spanish and Portuguese,
will often refer to their community as being linguistic.
Hence the Irish, Americans, Canadians, Australians,
New Zealanders and South Africans are included
in this closest circle by the English (whatever
these people may think of the English!).
part 1 - part
2 - part 3 - part
4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7
Adrian Taylor
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