Date: 2009
Type: Article
From hammer and sickle to star and crescent : the question of religion for European identity and a political Europe
Religion, state and society, 2009, Vol. 37, No. 1-2, pp. 65-80
CHALLAND, Benoît, From hammer and sickle to star and crescent : the question of religion for European identity and a political Europe, Religion, state and society, 2009, Vol. 37, No. 1-2, pp. 65-80
- https://hdl.handle.net/1814/42229
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
The paper suggests that European political identity, as a fragile project, is always in need of external significant ‘others’ in order to buttress a sense of common fate within the sui generis political entity of the European Economic Community/European Union (EU). Adopting a historical and diachronic perspective, the paper argues that for decades the threat of Eastern European communism represented one such external other as a gathering element for Western Europe, but that with the end of the Cold War this ‘other’ was gradually replaced by the threat of Islam and Islamism (and by extension Turkey's possible entry into the EU). Europe's threat was first the communist sickle; it is now Islam's crescent. Such a portrayal is obviously problematic because of its populist and simplistic appeal that has served political purposes. This needs to be questioned. The return of religion through what is currently described as desecularisation is a rather recent issue for Europe and the question of multireligious Europe ought to be taken seriously. The paper argues, in the line of Delanty, that one should adopt a civilisational approach to Europe, thus giving real space to differences within Europe, and reflect on certain biases of secularity and laïcité towards the dominant religion in various countries.
Additional information:
Published online: 15 Apr 2009
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/42229
Full-text via DOI: 10.1080/09637490802693544
ISSN: 0963-7494; 1465-3974
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