Europe and the challenges of globalization
Europe and the challenges of globalization

Summary/Abstract: Europe and the challenges of globalization 1 Maria MARCZEWSKA-RYTKO “If I knew about something that could be useful to me, but harmful to my family, I would throw it out of my mind. If I knew about something that could be useful to my family, but not to my motherland, I would try to forget about it. If I knew about something that could be useful to my motherland but harmful to Europe, or useful to Europe, but harmful to the humankind, I would consider it a crime”. (Montesquieu, Pensée) “Globalization is everything and its opposite. It can be incredibly empowering and incredibly andincredibly corecive. It can democratize opportunity and democratize panic. It makes the whales bigger and theminnows stronger. It leaves you behind faster and faster, and it catches up to you faster and faster. While it is homogenizing cultures, it is also enabling people to share their unique individuality farther and wider”. (Thomas L. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree. Understanding Globalization) The present paper aims at the identification of the challenges facing Europe in connection with the globalization processes. I do not intend to formulate any concrete solutions, but will attempt to present some questions, the answers to which do not seem unambiguous. My considerations will focus on questions connected with the domain of ideas and the vision of Europe of the future. Some scholars argue that after the collapse of grand ideologies we have entered the period of political nihilism (Zachariasz, 2001, 27). Without trying to establish to what extent their position is justified, we should draw attention to certain facts.

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