The Symbolic Construction of European Community

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Most existing studies analyzing the historical trajectories of larger groups from a ‘social constructivist’ perspective focus on nation-states. This class transfers the analysis to a European level. It thus examines the role of symbols, political ritual, ceremonies, shared memories and histories in the successful construction of communities in Europe since the 20th century. The collective memory of the two World Wars shapes European identities to this day. Therefore the module examines some of the differences in the national memorialization of the Great War in Germany, France, and Britain; and how the West European nations after 1945 succeeded in symbolically reconstructing their communities through commemorations, rituals, and memorials. The end of the Cold War in 1989/91 pushed historians and politicians to revise the history of the Second World War in light of a re-unified Europe. Therefore students are asked think about ways in which a European history of the 21st century can account for these recent political changes. The contestations of some of the powerful identity markers defining Europe and the EU will be analyzed. Topics such as ‘Fortress Europe’, Europe’s Other, Euroscepticism, ‘Old and New Europe’ are at the core of this multidisciplinary module, which draws on social theory, cultural history, and politics. Methodologically, this module introduces students to interpretative methods of studying politics and the political domain, mainly from the constructivist perspective, which holds that social categories, such as nation, class, and gender are invented rather than a social given. Students in this course will be expected to apply methods from the parallel course ‘Qualitative Content Analysis’.