Testing the European Dream: Social Ideals and Cultural Realities in a Unified Europe

Lindsay Jorgensen, Macalester College

Document Type Article

Advisor: David Martyn

Abstract

This paper addresses the viability of the European Dream proposed by Jeremy Rifkin through an examination of the tension resulting from cross-cultural acts of violence. Using primary sources and reactions to these events in the press, I show the inadequacy of Rifkin’s theory to address certain aspects of European reality. Centering on the case of Germany, I then explore depictions of the European Dream and of the obstacles faced by non-Germans in pursuing that dream in a variety of texts by immigrant and minority authors. These case studies enable a closer inquiry into the structural flaws, the theoretical and practical accessibility, and the reality of the European Dream.