European values play a significant role in shaping the attachment of citizens and elites to the European Union (EU). They are central to the EU’s self-definition of where it stands and set the orientation of its foreign policy. Yet far from being universally accepted and promoted, the EU’s goals and their underlying values have increasingly been contested. What is the actual role of the EU’s values? Are they too broad or too narrowly defined? Are they, at times, unable to generate a unique civic identity for the European people? Do they provide the EU a unique voice on the global stage, or have they instead led the EU to marginalize itself? Is the EU able to properly fulfill its own mandates? Does the EU actually live up to the values it promotes?
As many of these contestations have been raised from within the EU, too little attention has been given to how they are perceived in non-European contexts. The goal of the first Annual ValEUs Conference is an analysis of the ways individuals, groups, and elites in American, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern countries perceive these values and, in return, how these external contestations are understood by European elites. Are these values perceived as hints of Europe’s former colonialism? What role do they play in the resurgence of Russia’s Slavophile legacy and the country’s aggressive foreign policy? In light of what appears to be tomorrow’s world, can we expect European values to appeal beyond the EU’s formal structure or instead to increase the gap with non-European nations? Do these values have the potential to transcend cultural and civilizational differences, or are they instead a source of Europe’s marginalization?
The investigation of these questions (among others) will be integral to the first Annual ValEUs Conference held at Nazarbayev University (Astana, Kazakhstan) between September 13-15, 2024. The conference draws from the rich interdisciplinary expertise of our global research and education network, presenting over 30 contributions from ValEUs scholars. For more details, check our conference program below.
