part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7

Given that technology is shrinking the globe, and the role of language is fundamental in communication of ideas, the powerhouse of the new economy, will there be an antagonism between geography and language community?

The answer comes to me from a friend in the bar later that night: "Take a computer. Imagine you have the latest model at home. The computer is great, it allows you to send emails around the globe, or to shop on the World Wide Web. But even with net and web access, that does not help you keep clean the street where you are living. It will not stop the neighbors from playing loud music at all hours. The only way you can do that is by going to talk to them, to become part of the neighborhood decision making process.

The same is true of in Europe today. Sure, you absolutely have to be plugged into the global network. But the virtual nature of the new economy doesn't mean you live on the moon. You still suffer the consequences of what the neighbors do. And given that Europe has built a local town council, you had better be part of it if you wish your voice to be heard. It’s not a choice of either the world or Europe. It has got to be both and..."

The other voices

Sitting on a riverboat this sultry summer evening, the buzz of Rhineland Germany is much more invigorating than I imagined it could be. Cologne's Cathedral towers above, as the Rhine flows fast beneath our tethered craft.

I am again in a meeting about Europe, but this one is of a decidedly different nature to Plymouth. To start with, the average age of the participants is substantially lower. Importantly they come from many countries, all across the Old Continent. Most interestingly of all what unites this group is a belief that Europe is their hope for the future.

As I mingle with the crowd, it becomes clear that there is a need for patience and understanding. Each takes time to try to express themselves in a foreign idiom - or to make themselves understood to another who is not a mother tongue speaker. The lingua franca is not automatically English. Yes, it plays a major role, and the first words tend to be in English, but French, German, Spanish and many other languages still are to be heard.

So are they building tower of Babel, I wonder? Only later do I realise that my biblical reference is incorrect, for when they were building the tower, they spoke one language. It was only after the Lord struck down the tower that, they spoke in different tongues. The closer biblical approximation is the Pentecost. Each person on the boat is making themselves understood, without necessarily having learnt the language in advance!

One young lady I sit next to is commenting on the experience of moving house from Paris to Berlin. It turns out that the chap she is speaking to, used to live in Berlin, whilst yet another participant at the table had got married in Germany, although both he and his wife are Belgian.

I ask myself if this is what makes this crowd so different. Living abroad certainly changes a person's perspective. It is even interesting how the word 'abroad' has changed in its use in English. Reading "Moby Dick", written a century and a half ago, I discover that the term then simply meant to go out into the street. I half wonder if it will again mutate as travel 'abroad' in the developed world is no longer so strange.

My hypothesis is, however, rapidly blown apart. Most of the participants have never lived outside their own country, and many have never even resided away from their home town. Nor is mastery of a foreign language the common denominator, although most have some inkling. The only commonality I find is that they have traveled - either in reality, or through television and magazine images. For them, places that could otherwise seem strange and forbidding are instead familiar and friendly.

Another significant feature is that none seems to have been brought up with a sense that the neighboring countries were a threat. Yes, when growing up, most of them had been told their country was best. But no, it was rare to find that they had been taught to hate others. I realise that this is most visible of all in those who finished High School after the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

So are they particularly "European" in their identity? None of them shrug the least when called Europeans. None seek to claim they are European rather than anything else. All seem quite happy to recognise a co-existence of their nationality and European citizenship. Indeed, most do not seem to shrink from the notion of global belonging.
So how has this happened?

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7

Adrian Taylor