D e m o c r a c y e q u a l i t y c u l t u r e b e y o n D t h e n a t i o n
PP. 4 - 5 Migration: euroPean Mirage
PP. 6 - 7 Media freedoM in euroPe
Migration policy must respect fundamental rights and the dignity of man the European Union claims to uphold
Media pluralism is coming under attack in an increasing number of countries - a common European response is necessary
F R E E , n . 1 , D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 - w w w. E U R o A LT E R . C o M
AuSterIty ANd euroPeAN ALterNAtIveS
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he dishonest principle “there is no alternative” has made a come-back, used once again by the leaders of European states to excuse drastically cutting public expenditure and justifying shifting onto labour the costs of the banking crisis. But this is a farce because the “orthodox” economic principles upheld are none other than those that have led to the crisis in the first place. And it is a farce because alternatives do exist, if only we looked for them in the right place. Taken as a whole, the European Union finds itself in much better financial shape than leading global economies such as the United States of America or Japan, boasting lower deficit levels and lower public debt. And yet, to avoid financial turbulence Europe alone has had to embark on continent-wide austerity measures that will increase unemployment, decrease social protections, and prolong economic stagnation. Europe’s nonbinding macroeconomic “vision” - the unsuccessful Lisbon Agenda and now the new 2020 Agenda - both place great importance in making Europe the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world. And yet in all member states funding to education and university is being cut, or the costs are being shifted directly onto students with hikes in fees and a financiarisation of education through loans. This paradox has a simple explanation. The nation-states of Europe find themselves at
the mercy of financial institutions and rating agencies all too ready to speculate on their weaknesses for short-term gain. At the same time, Europe’s nation states are looking only to their short-term interests in working competitively against each other, as if unaware that ultimately we are all in the same boat. In a common market, each member state depends on the other, and policy choices in one country constrain the possibilities of other countries, whether inside or outside the Eurozone. The European Union as it is currently constituted encourages countries to cash-in by becoming more welcoming to capital investment than other countries, and that often means cutting back on social spending, cutting back on taxes on the rich whilst keeping average salaries low. The austerity measures are justified by European leaders without mentioning the massive bail-out of European banks which has made deficits such a problem, nor the daylight robbery of the taxpayer that is taking place under the current arrangements for financing the debts of other European countries: at the moment the European Central Bank essentially pays the private banks for buying national debt of countries such as Greece. Europe’s leaders have shown themselves unable to re-establish the European Union on the basis of democracy, equality and solidarity against the brutal egoism of international markets. Moreover, the European left, de-
pressingly, is becoming increasingly insular and limited to defending what can be salvaged from the welfare models built in our nation states, instead of proposing radical alternatives at the transnational level where political decisions are now being decided again and again in favour of financial institutions, big business, and shareholders, instead of European citizens. Yet in a unified Europe political alternatives are available: a European Central Bank which could take on debt itself could step in with bond purchases reducing the dependency of European states on international investors, instead of having to pay private banks to do it. Better, Eurobonds, guaranteed by all EU states, could mobilise large capitals cheaply for a Europe-wide investment project in infrastructure, renewable energies, education and research. A financial transactions tax, a financial earnings’ cap, and a carbon tax could be introduced continent-wide to shift the burden on the sectors that have caused the crisis in the first place. Starting from this point very much more radical transformations of the current system of global capitalism could be proposed. As never before, Europe is paying an enormous price for its inability to act as a united political entity. A very tangible, economic price. But, above all, the intangible price of renouncing the chance of creating a more sustainable, fair, and democratic economic model model for all. Continued on page 2
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About tHIS PubLICAtIoN TRANSEUROPA magazine is Europe’s first truly transnational publication, published in English, Italian, and French editions, and distributed free of charge in several European countries. The magazine is accompanied by an annual Festival, TRANSEUROPA festival, taking place in eight European cities simultaneously in the month of May. The magazine has a genuinely transeuropean editorial board, TRANSEUROPA network, responsible for the contents of the publication as well as ongoing local activities all over Europe.
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Ashley Hunt “A World Map: In which we see ...” (2005, ongoing) The exhibition Another Country | Eine Andere Welt, curated by Övül Durmuşoğlu at the Ifa gallery Berlin, is the first of a series on the theme of Cultural Transfer; a programme that intends to explore other cultures’ roles and influences as well as forms of cultural hybridization taking place in Europe. Through the works of artists coming from the Middle East, Turkey, and North and South America, the multiculturalism of contemporary society is researched through an approach that tries to abandon and question the separation, and therefore the production, of cultural identities. Contemporary art is understood as a potential critical tool for the emergence of a ‘foucauldian’ heterotopia where, in the curator’s words, ‘the real is nothing other than the intersection of different interpretations’ and where ‘difference would not separate but liberate’. Through collaborative practice, the artist Ashley Hunt designs a world map of globalisation’s fluxes and new borders. Matilde Cassani maps and investigates the religious spaces of non-Christian migrants. Dubravka Sekulić looks at European Song Context as a strategy to approach the question European identity and the role of nation states, while Köken Ergun documents a Turkish wedding ceremony in Berlin as a ritual that goes beyond the identitarian connotation but emerge as a communitarian and social activity.
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