Birbal
FULL MEMBER
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The European Diversity Myth: A View from Asia
The EU has in recent decades sought to project itself as a model of good governance and has been prone to lecture others, including Asians, on governance-related issues. The current crisis however is exposing deep fault lines. The current drama should give pause to put things in perspective and also to reflect upon what Europeans can learn from Asians, as opposed to teach Asians.
Europeans have tended, among other things, to claim success in managing diversity. But, seen from Asia, it is legitimate to ask the question: European diversity! What diversity? European diversity is in fact especially striking from a Eurocentric perspective, but far less so when put in a comparative perspective with Asia.
Almost all of Europe is populated by Caucasians who share the same Christian religious tradition. The predominantly Muslim European countries, such as Turkey, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Kosovo have been so far denied EU membership.
Furthermore, what little diversity there is has hardly been harmonious think of the histories of pogroms and genocides committed against European Jews, the plight of the Roma, the inability of a country such as Cyprus to achieve peaceful coexistence between its Turkish (Muslim) and Greek (Christian) inhabitants, the brutal ethnic cleansing wars in former Yugoslavia and even the Belgians who were unable for over 500 days to form a national government because of a linguistic difference between Flemish and French-speaking populations!
When Europes comparative failure to manage diversity is taken into consideration, the fact that a eurozone of 17 states let alone an EU of 27 states cannot get their act together is hardly surprising!
Now compare with Asia. Southeast and South Asia contain more ethnic, religious and linguistic diversities than Europeans would be able to count. Take a relatively small country like Malaysia (population 29 million). There are four totally distinct ethnic groups, at least five major religions Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Taoism and over a dozen commonly spoken languages. There are tensions, which have erupted into violence at times, but the fact that the country has held together with such high diversity is a feat no European country has achieved in modern times.
Or indeed compare the EU with India. With over twice the population of the EU, it contains at least three totally distinct ethnic groups, six separate religions Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and Christianity and an estimated 850 living languages, 21 of which are official, and 17 can be found on a rupee note: 2 on the face side, 15 on the reverse side.
In India, too, there are tensions and occasional violence, even bloodbaths, but the country has held together under one government since Independence in 1947 despite many naysayers who forecast it would fall apart.
Managing this diversity is not easy. The process can be painfully slow. But the fact that not only has India held together as one nation since 1947, but it has succeeded to remain a democracy is remarkable. With the current sorry scene in Europe, Europeans must recognise that on many fronts, and emphatically that of managing diversity, Europeans have much to learn from Asians.
There was a long tradition of Europeans learning from Asia, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries; in the 17th century with Jesuit missionaries who looked upon Chinese governance and philosophy with awe; and in the 18th century with philosophers of the Enlightenment who gained inspiration from Asian learning.
In the 19th century, however, with the rise of European imperialism, as arrogance and ignorance set in, learning from Asia was abandoned. Indeed Asian learning was despised. This is vividly illustrated by the famous Minute on Indian Education composed in 1835 by Lord (Thomas Babington) Macaulay, a poet, historian, politician and at the time a senior official in India: who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India.
Asians and Europeans have a great deal to learn from each other. The essential quality in any learning and especially when learning from others is humility.
The 19th century was Europes apogee of global power in every domain; the 20th century was Europes destruction through two world wars, a number of civil wars and revolutions, leading to a period of transition to a more peaceful and prosperous Europe. For a new Europe, a European renaissance adapted to the realities and forces of the 21st century, there is a lot that can be gained from studying Asia, including its skills at managing diversity!
