Imagining the Boundaries: in Search of the Political Correctness of European Identities
Imagining the Boundaries: in Search of the Political Correctness of European Identities

Summary/Abstract: “Re-enter Europe” is not a customs sign but a metaphor, which quickly became a commonplace, referring to the former communist countries as though, before the fall of the Iron Curtain, these states had been removed or far away from the continent. At the same time when, during the mid 1990s, this expression was en vogue, there were geographical, political and cultural debates about whether the former communist territories belong to Central or Eastern Europe, and on whether Russia or Turkey, which have territories in Europe, had ever been European. Based on evidences, it can be asserted that no discipline can offer un-debatable methods for delimitating Europe’s regions or a commonly accepted manner for defining regions in general. The only certitude seems to be the fact that all regions, including geographical ones, have invented boundaries and some are designated through names with a certain past, usually employed by the political projects that refers to regions. Therefore, in order to understand the current political projects (even when they try to be as politically correct as possible), it is more than necessary to understand first the history of the names employed and their connotations. Unfortunately, most social scientists ignore or are just partially aware of the importance of these background researches dismissing them as pure and unnecessary erudition.

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