4. The Ethos of the Game: Recovering the Promise of Mutual Recognition

In this concluding chapter, the authors attempt to draw some lessons from the ‘affair’ while calling on each reader to draw their own. They ask, in particular, how we may learn to better live together in the EU and how an ethos of mutual recognition might be recovered from the wars of stereotypes and mutual ascription discussed in the book. They argue that we must start by becoming more aware of how we construct ourselves and others and how the two are intimately related. They also point to how, by engaging with each other’s internal controversies, Greeks and Germans learned about themselves, too, and were led to question long-held prejudices. The question is left open as to whether this prolonged engagement through conflict will help us to develop bonds of trust and recover the promise mutual recognition, not only between Greeks and Germans but also among other Europeans.