a clarification re: Neubauten and the convo with desertpalace:
Not all rhetorical deployments of the concept of Europe are suspicious or crypto-fascistic. […]
It’s always important to think about context here- as with the deployment of any particular rhetorical buzzwords that are so general as to be nearly meaningless.
[links above added by me]
In my case, I guess the relevant context is that I’m an EU citizen/resident who is largely supportive of european integration. However, in taking this position one has to be aware of the potential pitfalls that come with it. The subtler these are, the more pervasive and destructive they can become.
Records like Autobahn and Trans-Europe Express are part of an iconography which I personally associate with european integration. An antithesis to the Neubauten song, they present an ideal of Europe as a new, technological utopia. If this is taken at face value, “parks, hotels and palaces” become part of a hypnotic kitsch, together with long-distance trains and autobahns.
Kraftwerk’s own views on technology are likely more ambivalent, with a comparable measure of dystopia to be found elsewhere in their music (such as Radioactivity and Computer World). But for me, Autobahn and Trans-Europe Express have always induced a vague yet compelling sentiment that “Europe is good: keep on building it”.
This is somewhat abstract. At present, one aspect of european integration under severe strain is the Euro currency. Although I am in favour of the Euro, I’m concerned about many of the voices within the pro-Euro camp, which can often tend towards proto-fascist calls to conformity. This can be seen both in creditor and debtor countries (two here in particular):
- “Those protestors in XXXX country don’t know what’s good for them. Their government needs to convince them to do the right thing.”
- “Our country had better accept these austerity measures, because they are recommended by Europe. We need Europe!”
For the most part, these voices are not perceived as extremist. What I see happening is that the longer the currency union goes without success, the more people are being drawn to these positions, without really discussing how they got there. European integration is seen as unquestionably good, therefore anything done in the name of propping it up in its current form deserves unquestioning acceptance.
It’s an ugly mindset, but one which at times I feel myself instinctively relating to. This is why it deserves the most careful consideration - not to be flattened and buried under the next layer.
