Oldal 47 [47]
Integration and disintegration | 45
creates a ‘new feudalism, where social status is based on ethnicity, birth, or
the goodwill of a powerful leader. For this tradition, the humanistic ideal
of the Enlightenment is a naive myth, and in practice, it uses irrationality
and heated emotions to undermine rational decision-making. Why this is
interesting is that such forces, as Richard Ned Lebow puts it,
almost invariably assert the distinctiveness and superiority of a people or nation.
Claims of superiority and justifications for privileges based on them are really appeals
to the principle of fairness and to hierarchy at the expense of equality. Elites who
propagate these identifications and claims invoke all kinds of sleights of hand in an
attempt to square the two principles, but rarely credibly in the eyes of other actors.
(Lebow 2016, 6)
It is easy to admit that in most cases, the European far-right shares many
anti-Enlightenment clichés. However, other parties also follow such views,
both in the centre, or on the far-left.
The effect of the anti-Enlightenment tradition in European relations are
twofold. First of all, it has the potential to block legislation that is based on
humanistic, inclusive, and democratic ideals. As such, it generates disputes
and conflicts among nations in these fields. Second, it also has the potential
to alter decision-making (Ziegler 2020). To counter these tendencies, we
should strengthen Enlightenment values at all levels of society, including
in education.
CONCLUSIONS
Integration and disintegration among European countries is a multilayered,
complex, and often contradictory phenomenon. At present, there is no
scientific consensus to whether the disintegration of the EU is on its way, or
not. As mentioned above, in my interpretation, the views and speculations
about the EU falling apart are exaggerated. However, there are strong
disintegrative tendencies, which can seriously hinder or reverse cooperation
in certain fields. In this regard, the future of European cooperation is strongly
tied to national preferences and the citizens’ value preferences. This means
that how European nations see each other and what identity choices the
citizens make will have a major effect on future cooperation both within
and outside the EU.