The Rebirth of Classical Europe

What Does It Mean to be European?

Authors

  • Francesco Sidoti University of L’Aquila

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.12.2015.37.04

Keywords:

sociology, Europe, frontiers

Abstract

In these pages I will present the results of a project, launched in 2008 by the European Union, the subject of which were the values of Europe. The idea of a Europe built on knowledge, civility, rule of law, inclusiveness, was in our mind, but we understood that this idea of Europe was conflicting with many other ideas about Europe and its destiny. At the end of our search, we have found that the best Europe is the Europe of the Founding Fathers. In 1946, Winston Churchill advocated European integration precisely to prevent the horrors of two world wars from ever happening again. From the beginning, the EU was linked to the USA. European heritage and American heritage are strictly connected. Many scholars, such as and T.G. Ash and J.G.A. Pocock, underline the point. The rebirth of classical Europe is the rebirth of collaboration, alliance, partnership, mutual friendship, common values. Western declinism is the classic self‑fulfilling prophecy, while, actually, however, what continue to exist are reasons for US strength and European eminence, which can be maximized rather than minimized (for those who care about the stability of the international system). The inventor of dynamite and philanthropist, Alfred Nobel is an icon of European ambivalence on science, which can be used in order to build bombs and in order to build peace. At the annual Nobel Prize Award Ceremony, in the Stockholm City Hall, every 10th December, the classical European spirit is alive and kicking even more each year.

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Author Biography

Francesco Sidoti, University of L’Aquila

Full professor, the secretary of Research Committee 29 (Deviance and Social Control); International Sociological Association, 2010-2014. Expert in deviance, criminal investigation, litigation communication, open source intelligence. Docteur de Troisième Cycle, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris 1981. Guest Scholar, The Brookings Institution, Washington Dc, 1988. International Prize, Giuridico Scientifico G. Falcone-P. Borsellino, LIUC 2007. Prize “Stilo-Raffaele Laporta”, on Education, Pescara 2003. Advisor, Italian Parliamentary Committee “Antimafia”, Rome 1992-1994. Director, PH. D. in Criminal Law, University of Bari, Italy, 1996. Partenership, EU Project: EU and Turkey; universities: Heidelberg, Ludwigsburg, Çanakkale. Director, Master’s Degree in Criminology, Lugano Switzerland. Interviews: The New York Times and many other newspapers. Publications: Books and articles in Italy, France, UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Korea, and Turkey, for instance: ‘Our Roots. From Homer to Ataturk, from Sun Tzu to Obama’ in Occasional Papers on Security, Criminology, Intelligence, Litigation Communication (2013); ‘The Italian Secret Services; in T. Jäger, A. Daun (eds.), Geheimdienste in Europa (2009); with M. Gammone, ‘The Sociological Intervention’ in R. Kincal (ed.), International Symposium on Democracy and Democracy Education in Europe (2009); with M. Gammone, ‘The Lombroso Biologism: a Centenary of Controversies’, Salute e Società (2010), at <http://dx.doi.org/10.3280/SES2010-003008-ing>; ‘Are Human Rights for Monsters too?’, Mediterranean Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 3, No. 2 (1999); various contributions to the magazine Government and Opposition (published in collaboration with the London School of Economics), 1996; ‘The Extreme Right in Italy’ in P. Hainsworth (ed.), The Extreme Right in Europe and the USA (1992); ‘Terrorism Supporters in the West. The Italian Case’ in N. Gal-Or (ed.), Tolerating Terrorism in the West. An International Survey (1991).

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Published

2015-09-28

How to Cite

Sidoti, Francesco. 2015. “The Rebirth of Classical Europe: What Does It Mean to Be European?”. Politeja 12 (5 (37):35-54. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.12.2015.37.04.