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The Politics of De-Paradoxification in Euro-Mediterranean Relations: Semantics and Structures of ‘Cultural Dialogue’

This article analyses, from a systems theoretical perspective, ‘cultural dialogue’ in the context of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. It proceeds in four steps. First, the article looks from a perspective of symbolic bordering processes into the semantics of identity that shape the observation of two distinct cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean area. Second, it takes a closer look at Self/Other distinctions on which these semantics of cultures are based, thereby addressing in particular the valorization of identities. Third, it discusses the politics of de-paradoxification, which become institutionalized through ‘cultural dialogue’, thereby focusing on its structural conflictual disposition. Finally, the article proposes a world societal perspective on symbolic bordering processes in the Euro-Mediterranean area that might avoid some of the pitfalls of ‘cultural dialogue’.