Outsiders to ourselves

What does "Europe" mean, and what does it mean to be a "European"?

In the 1970s and 80s I was a consultant to the Council of Europe, at a time when it was limited to the "democratic" states of Western Europe and, believe it or not, Turkey. The team to which I belonged was tasked with exploring cultural problems in member-states: how local and regional authorities, in partnership with citizen groups, solved problems relating to the community's cultural welfare. Some of the projects were grandiose - building a theater, for example - while others related much more closely to people's perception of their everyday quality of life, small but vital factors such as the future of the village brass band.

We gained an invaluable collective understanding of both the shared cultural values of Europe that we can celebrate and the cultural differences which must be respected. My...

Continue reading on: