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De Europeanen: Leven en werken in de hoofdstad van Europa
In Brussel wonen zeker 150.000 professionals uit allerlei Europese landen. Velen van hen zijn er al heel lang. Sommigen hebben Belgische vrienden, maar de meesten zien vooral elkáár. Ze tennissen samen, richten boekenclubs op. Dat ze aan tafel van de ene taal naar de andere switchen, hebben ze vaak niet eens meer in de gaten. Er zijn er die zich sterk verbonden voelen met het land van herkomst, en er is een groeiende groep die niet precies meer weet wat dat is. En dit dilemma bindt hen. Want als je geen duidelijke nationale identiteit meer hebt, wie ben je dan?
In De Europeanen gaat Caroline de Gruyter, die zelf vijf jaar lang in Brussel woonde, op zoek naar de wortels én de realiteit van het 'verenigd Europa'. De hoofdstukken in dit boek zijn steeds opgebouwd rondom één type van de vele die je in Brussel kunt tegenkomen. Samen vormen ze een persoonlijk, leesbaar en actueel verslag van de wereld die Brussel heet. Over 'eurokids' en lobbyisten over alleenstaande carrièrevrouwen, euronetwerken en Brusselaars. Over de politieke idealen van weleer, en hoe de professionals van nu daartegen aan kijken. En over de kernvraag: bestaat er zoiets als een Europese identiteit?
In De Europeanen gaat Caroline de Gruyter, die zelf vijf jaar lang in Brussel woonde, op zoek naar de wortels én de realiteit van het 'verenigd Europa'. De hoofdstukken in dit boek zijn steeds opgebouwd rondom één type van de vele die je in Brussel kunt tegenkomen. Samen vormen ze een persoonlijk, leesbaar en actueel verslag van de wereld die Brussel heet. Over 'eurokids' en lobbyisten over alleenstaande carrièrevrouwen, euronetwerken en Brusselaars. Over de politieke idealen van weleer, en hoe de professionals van nu daartegen aan kijken. En over de kernvraag: bestaat er zoiets als een Europese identiteit?
301 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 2006
47 people want to read
About the author
Caroline de Gruyter
10 books41 followersCaroline de Gruyter (Zwolle, 11 september 1963) is een Nederlands journaliste, columniste en schrijfster. Zij is correspondent en columnist voor NRC en schrijft vooral over Europese politieke ontwikkelingen. Daarnaast is zij verbonden aan een aantal denktanks op het gebied van internationale betrekkingen. Haar journalistieke werk werd meerdere malen bekroond.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 17, 2017
I found the shelf with books about the European Union by chance when looking around in the politics section in the library. As a citizen of the European Union, as a European myself, I was interested in other people who consider themselves European.
The stories themselves are interesting enough. A number of people who ended up in Brussels, in one way or another involved with the EU. More importantly, however, I learned more about the EU.
First of all, I found out that the national governments and politicians of member states are the ones trying to stop the EU from making progress and generating euroscepsis for fear of losing power. Especially the things that citizens do want to see in the EU are blocked by national governments. There is nothing I can immediately do about this, but it is good to be aware of this.
Second, I learned some more about working in Brussels. It is a much more competitive environment than I thought - I believed that since (apparently) no one likes Europe, it should be easy enough to find employment. At least I do know what the Concours is, and I've had a reminder that an adequate command of French is crucial.
Another thing that I learned was how open Brussels is. There is hardly any integration process, it's easy to fit in because everyone else also comes from another country, and no one cares where you are from. It sounds like an incredibly multicultural society and I hope to be part of it one day.
What bothers me most, though, is that the book keeps repeating and repeating that the old generation of Europeans are idealists and that the newer generations are not idealist. I am definitely and idealist, and I feel very European, and I'd rather hoped to meet people of a similar mindset in the future.
I don't usually read nonfiction, but this was certainly worth it. I might look for other interesting books about the European Union.
The stories themselves are interesting enough. A number of people who ended up in Brussels, in one way or another involved with the EU. More importantly, however, I learned more about the EU.
First of all, I found out that the national governments and politicians of member states are the ones trying to stop the EU from making progress and generating euroscepsis for fear of losing power. Especially the things that citizens do want to see in the EU are blocked by national governments. There is nothing I can immediately do about this, but it is good to be aware of this.
Second, I learned some more about working in Brussels. It is a much more competitive environment than I thought - I believed that since (apparently) no one likes Europe, it should be easy enough to find employment. At least I do know what the Concours is, and I've had a reminder that an adequate command of French is crucial.
Another thing that I learned was how open Brussels is. There is hardly any integration process, it's easy to fit in because everyone else also comes from another country, and no one cares where you are from. It sounds like an incredibly multicultural society and I hope to be part of it one day.
What bothers me most, though, is that the book keeps repeating and repeating that the old generation of Europeans are idealists and that the newer generations are not idealist. I am definitely and idealist, and I feel very European, and I'd rather hoped to meet people of a similar mindset in the future.
I don't usually read nonfiction, but this was certainly worth it. I might look for other interesting books about the European Union.
Displaying 1 of 1 review