The Cultural Dimension of the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership

A Critical Review of the First Decade of Intercultural Cooperation

Bibliographic Data

ID14672845
AuthorsIsabel Schäfer (Berlin Center for Epidemiology and Health Research, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume18
Issue3
Pages333-352
Publication date2007-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory and Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0275-7206 • E-ISSN: 1477-2612
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02757200701469733
OpenAlexW2030772438
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited7

This article examines how changing political realities have influenced the cultural dimension of the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership. Although the European Union has shunned the notion of a conflict between civilizations in dealing with the Mediterranean to promote the “dialogues of cultures”, the way how it has done so has been beset with difficulties, both internal and external. Since 1995, the EU has followed an ambiguous logic in its approach: On the one hand, toward “Mediterraneanism” in the sense that it wishes to construct a Mediterranean region, revalorize this geographical region and invent a common Euro‐Mediterranean identity. On the other hand, toward a policy of delimitation, in which the South and the East of the Mediterranean constitute an antechamber of Europe and which is deemed globally dependent. The result has been, on the cultural plane, an “imagined community”. Since the events of September 11, the Barcelona Process became revalorized. But the ambiguity of the European approach to dialogue between the two cultures still exists; one continues to invoke the common cultural heritage, and at the same time one pursues firm policies of security, of migration and enlargement, which draw a clear frontier in the middle of the Mediterranean. The gap between political realities and cultural wishes therefore persists. Finally the article examines instances of intercultural cooperation at work. It finds them innovative, but not very visible instruments. The article suggests that the EU uses the re‐invention of the Mediterranean myth and the cultural activities of the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership to support its economic and political interests

Development economics · Economics · European union · General partnership · International trade · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Resizing · Sociology · Cyprus History, Politics, Society · Diverse academic and cultural studies · Global Political and Social Dynamics · Law

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