Cosmopolitanism in Europe-in-crisis : the cases of the EU, Greece and Turkey

Abstract

Adopting a critical cosmopolitan outlook the thesis identifies a constructive engagement with the European project at a time when the crisis of the Euro-zone is still threatening the very existence of the European Union. The purpose of the study is to determine whether cosmopolitanism is feasible in Europe. I argue that the EU can be conceived as a catalyst of cosmopolitanism without being cosmopolitan per se due its so far limited internal and external contexts of cosmopolitanism. In the case of the EU’s limited inner cosmopolitanism, I seek cosmopolitan alternatives for the EU to overcome the crisis on the basis of an institutional and civil society analysis within the conceptual framework of cosmopolitan democracy. Instead of adopting the terminology of governance either for or by the people, my cosmopolitan approach focuses on governance with the people. The case of Greece is of utmost importance for my research as it reveals the causes and gravity of the crisis. It also broadens the empirical basis of cosmopolitan studies by embodying both the dynamics and challenges posed to cosmopolitanism which are exemplified in the paradoxes provoked; on the one hand there is aggravation of (fascist) nationalism and domination of economics on politics perhaps leading to Greece’s de- Europeanisation; on the other hand the dynamics of a paradigm shift towards a post-crisis cosmopolitanism are revealed. That kind of cosmopolitanism needs to take under consideration the role of contestation and to redefine its position in the era of global capitalism for the confrontation of the crisis. In the case of the EU’s limited external cosmopolitanism, my analysis of Turkey’s possible impact on the EU and the reverse aims to demonstrate that Turkey’s integration can contribute to the formation of a cosmopolitan, post-Western EU and post-national Turkey. What is of crucial importance for both cosmopolitan and Europeanisation studies is that the endogenous process of change within Turkey which is interlocking with the external dynamics of the EU may potentially lead to a distinctive ‘hybrid’ type of cosmopolitanisation neither merely European nor simply Asian. The conclusions drawn from this multiple case study suggest that the current crisis may open new meanings for cosmopolitanism in Europe.