TY - JOUR
T1 - European unification as lived memory
T2 - Shared and diverse representations in textbooks of six countries
AU - Sakki, Inari
AU - Hakoköngäs, Eemeli
AU - Brescó de Luna, Ignacio Bresco de
AU - Csertó, Istvan
AU - Kello, Katrin
AU - Miguel, Isabel
AU - O'Mahoney, Jennifer
AU - Pólya, Tibor
AU - Pires Valentim, Joaquim
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Concerned about a lack of legitimacy, European Union (EU) institutions have increasingly engaged in memory politics to enhance European identity. Yet, memory of the EU is still closely connected to the collective identity formation of nation-states, especially in the field of education, the focus of this study. Inspired by this dilemma, the present paper examines the representations of European unification in textbooks of six countries: Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Hungary, and Estonia. By focusing on countries on the margins of Europe, the present study explores shared and diverse narratives of the European unification process and asks whether or not a shared historical charter of European unification exists. All together 86 history textbooks used in upper secondary school were analysed by adopting a three-step multi-method approach. The results suggest that the representation of European unification is more diverse than it is homogenous. It can be narrated as a political value community or as a community based on utilitarian interests, or it can be represented from a unified European or from a more national perspective. Exploring representations of European unification is crucial to understanding how they can be used as legitimizing charters to navigate through the European challenges of the 21st century.
AB - Concerned about a lack of legitimacy, European Union (EU) institutions have increasingly engaged in memory politics to enhance European identity. Yet, memory of the EU is still closely connected to the collective identity formation of nation-states, especially in the field of education, the focus of this study. Inspired by this dilemma, the present paper examines the representations of European unification in textbooks of six countries: Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Hungary, and Estonia. By focusing on countries on the margins of Europe, the present study explores shared and diverse narratives of the European unification process and asks whether or not a shared historical charter of European unification exists. All together 86 history textbooks used in upper secondary school were analysed by adopting a three-step multi-method approach. The results suggest that the representation of European unification is more diverse than it is homogenous. It can be narrated as a political value community or as a community based on utilitarian interests, or it can be represented from a unified European or from a more national perspective. Exploring representations of European unification is crucial to understanding how they can be used as legitimizing charters to navigate through the European challenges of the 21st century.
KW - European unification
KW - collective memory
KW - lived memory
KW - narratives
KW - social representations
KW - textbooks
U2 - 10.1111/ajsp.12448
DO - 10.1111/ajsp.12448
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1367-2223
VL - 24
SP - 315
EP - 335
JO - Asian Journal of Social Psychology
JF - Asian Journal of Social Psychology
IS - 3
ER -