A New Euro-Mediterranean Cultural Identity (Paperback)

The aim of this book is not to make prescriptions, or to provide the reader with recipes for achieving stability in the Mediterranean, but rather to offer, through an interdisciplinary approach, a pluralistic vision of democracy, civil society, human rights and dialogue among civilizations, the aspects of the third volet of the EuroMediterranean Partnership (EMP). Instead of reviewing the content of the EMP, this volume focuses more upon actors and values than upon procedures and specific projects. What are the contradictions of democratization? How can the EMP strengthen and support civil society if it is so difficult to define what civil society is? Is there a unique scale of values when dealing with human rights? To what extent does a dialogue among civilizations lead to compatibility and coexistence? Some reflections are devoted to the identification of crucial issues uniting or separating the actors involved in and addressed by the EMP. These debated issues are tackled to indirectly highlight the achievements of and impediments to the Barcelona Process.