أوروبا الألمانية

by Ulrich Beck, أولريش بيك, محسن الدمرداش (Translator)

The euro crisis is tearing Europe apart. But the heart of the matter is that, as the crisis unfolds, the basic rules of European democracy are being subverted or turned into their opposite, bypassing parliaments, governments and EU institutions. Multilateralism is turning into unilateralism, equality into hegemony, sovereignty into the dependency and recognition into disrespect for the dignity of other nations. Even France, which long dominated European integration, must submit to Berlin's strictures now that it must fear for its international credit rating.How did this happen? The anticipation of the European catastrophe has already fundamentally changed the European landscape of power. It is giving birth to a political monster: a German Europe.Germany did not seek this leadership position - rather, it is a perfect illustration of the law of unintended consequences. The invention and implementation of the euro was the price demanded by France in order to pin Germany down to a European Monetary Union in the context of German unification. It was a quid pro quo for binding a united Germany into a more integrated Europe in which France would continue to play the leading role. But the precise opposite has happened. Economically the euro turned out to be very good for Germany, and with the euro crisis Chancellor Angela Merkel became the informal Queen of Europe.The new grammar of power reflects the difference between creditor and debtor countries; it is not a military but an economic logic. Its ideological foundation is 'German euro nationalism' - that is, an extended European version of the Deutschmark nationalism that underpinned German identity after the Second World War. In this way the German model of stability is being surreptitiously elevated into the guiding idea for Europe. The Europe we have now will not be able to survive in the risk-laden storms of the globalized world. The EU has to be more than a grim marriage sustained by the fear of the chaos that would be caused by its breakdown. It has to be built on something more positive: a vision of rebuilding Europe bottom-up, creating a Europe of the citizen. There is no better way to reinvigorate Europe than through the coming together of ordinary Europeans acting on their own behalf.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Sociology, History, Economics

119 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2012

About the author

Ulrich Beck was a German sociologist. He coined the term risk society and was a professor of Sociology at Munich University and the London School of Economics.

Reviews

[David Ferreira Alves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma reflexão necessária sobre os próximos passos da Europa. Escrito em 2013 em plena crise do Euro, lido em 2020 tem o sabor de reflexão mais distante e no entanto tão perta.
Vale a pena aumentarmos a cultura sobre a Europa para sermos parte deste futuro.

[Antonis Michailidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ένα ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο που αναλύει την κατάσταση της Ευρώπης γύρω στο 2012 δίνοντας όσα προηγήθηκαν και όσα ακολούθησαν.

[Elie AbouMelhem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, I have finished reading this book. That was a tough nut to crack ! As a first impression, it didn't seem a difficult book to go through (only around 112 pages) but make no mistake; the information and the flow of ideas was very difficult to grasp. At the end, it is mainly a sociology book which is still considered an unfamiliar topic to many of the general public. However, after slowly and tirelessly moving forward with the book, I found it quite interesting and enjoyable. Very well written in a much objective perspective on the EURO crisis from a social point of view and implications. One of my favourite parts is the "Merkiavelli" comparison which depicts the political affinity between Machiavelli' Prince book and Angela Merkel politics behaviour. In general, a good book but need patience to reread the same sentence and paragraph many times to fully understand the context (at least for me).

[Francisco Luis Benítez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leída la versión española del libro. Una aproximación a la idea de una UE más fuerte, que haga frente a los retos de la sociedad del riesgo, basada en los principios democráticos que la asentaron y renunciando a los dictados de la canciller alemana, que ha corrompido los mismos en su propio beneficio político y abandonando los principios rectores que la crearon; tal como recuerda con la cita de Nietzsche en La Gaya Ciencia. Sin duda un más que interesante ensayo para recordarnos que en Europa como conjuntó y no como naciones individuales está la salida de la crisis y el mantenimiento de nuestro sistema político.

[Mz · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://antifono.gr/h-%ce%ba%ce%bf%ce...
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https://bavariagr.de/merkiavelismos-i...

[João Caribé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beck faz uma analise da crise do Euro e das propostas do que ele chama de arquitetos da Europa, analisando diversos cenários e possibilidades até chegar no empoderamento da Alemanha como lider do bloco europeu, e na busca de embasamento descortina a Merkiavel....

[Benjamin Thomas Sutpen]

http://sensemania.blogspot.com/2013/0...

[Aj Tonucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I liked the book, it did not change any opinions I had on the topic but I thought the author made a good argument about Germany becoming the super power in the European Union.