Summary
Summary Articulating Europe Block 1
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- Institution
Summary of every week, mentions of definitions, important notes from lessons and discussion of the readings
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Week 1• Literary and cultural discourses ‘articulate’ an idea of Europe
• Historiography -> geography -> travel -> fiction -> other popular forms of
representation
• Not one theme or genre dominates the interplay between different modes of
discourse
• Using cultural analysis to understand political questions
• Europe has always been a cultural entity – Fulbright.
• Propositions; appear to be factual statements about the nature of a thing, in this
case; Europe; worldly statements. Third person, often present tense, Europe IS …
• Representations; image directly shown, message not explicitly stated, more
memorable and larger impact.
• Europe as identity; based on things like history, geography, emotional identifications
• Politics is a way of living together based on values. Cultural identity reinforces
political identity.
• Values’ could just be a collection of abstract ideals – ‘democracy’, ‘scientific
knowledge’, ‘social responsibility’. But they are also ‘articulated’ through a more
complex set of discourses.
• How is culture political?
o Because a political unit’s aims are governed by their understanding of values;
o And values are determined by emotions and subjective perceptions
• Importance of identities depends on situation
• Elzinga’s 3 phases:
o Essentialist –1945
▪ European superiority, europe IS and europe is BETTER.
o Pragmatist 1945-1975
▪ Concentration on economic-security goals, about practical questions.
o Constructivist 1975-
▪ Resurgence of identity questions
• Claims of intrinsic superiority = essentialism.
• Concepts
o Rational choice theory; the conception that modern individuals and states
make their decisions based on rational calculation of their interests.
o Contradictory identities
o Overlapping identities
o Proposition
o Representation
o Alterity: the state of being other or different; otherness
• Texts
o 1st:
, ▪ Copenhagen Declaration; made by the 9 foreign misters, this
document is generally taken as first official step by EU as official
normative declaration of identity. Same attitudes to life,
determination to build society for needs of the individual, principles
of representative democracy, rule of law, social justice, respect for
human rights = fundamental elements of european identity. Yet also
economic elements included like a common market. Cultural
document with political aims. Common heritage, Othering, Special
obligations, Unity as part of identity.
• Overlapping identities, national and european
• Cultural/political/economic discourse
• Proposition?
▪ Eurocoins; representation of different national cultures that are
united in the euro. Pragmatic use but also cultural use and carrier of
symbols. As identity symbols and as documents, evidence of identity
discourse.
• Representation
• Cultural/historical discourse
o 2nd:
▪ Wintle; wonders what the essence behind the economic and political
unification is, if there is one. Says attempts to develop symbols of
European identity like flag and anthem are artificial and seem shallow.
Identity as sameness between Europe. identities, like cultures, are
always changing because identity is moulded by internal and external
forces, depends on a set of at least partly shared experiences, hopes
and heritage. Besides that, identity cannot only come top-down.
Wintle think Europe has a cultural identity. But it is not a blue print for
EU.
• Cultural/historical discourse
• Talks about symbols
▪ Sen; a person has to decide on the relative importance to attach to
the respective identities. Mentions two issues; recognition that
identities are plural & importance of one identity does not exclude
importance of others. Plus, people have to choose the importance to
attach. Argues against the rational choice theory used by other
economics, because this would mean people disregard their
identities. Sen argues that self-interest is not the only factor in
important decisions, identities play a role as well.
• Overlapping and contradicting identities
• Rational choice theory
Week 2
, • Political’ Europe is named after a geographical unit. So its political identity might be
said to have a geographical basis.
o The idea of the continent gives solidity to the political idea.
• Can a continent refer to a) territorial features; b) political characteristics; c)
characteristics of the inhabitants?
• Sometimes we imagine countries and continents to be distinguished by ‘natural’
boundaries.
o Where eastern border then of europe?
• Invented continents by europe; america and oceania, creation of name propositional
function.
• Geography has travel and oral sources and basis, one of oldest literary forms.
• Originally, had a quite open, ‘subjective’ approach. Use of first person, inclusion of
anecdotes.
• Herodotus; boundaries of Europe are quite unknown. Not exterior boundaries, but a
‘mirror’ line dividing cultures North & South of Mediterranean.
• During 18th and 19th century: scientific’ collection/comparison of information.
Connected to formal institutions, especially universities and institutes working in the
service of national states.
• Contrary to popular belief, continents are not the product of delimitation by
absolute ‘scientific’ criteria. They are the product of geographical discourse.
• Political divisions are often the primary criterion in producing maps or other
geographical discourse.
• PLACE is fixed location vs SPACE a practised place, movements taking place within it.
Place is boring vs space is invested with meaning
• Discourse originally; talk, conversation, treatment of a subject.
o Discourse of separation: intelligibility is established through a relation with
the other’. Discourses on the other (‘heterologies’) ‘are built upon a division
between the body of knowledge that utters a discourse and the mute body
that nourishes it’. ‘The group is defined by what it excludes – this is the
creation of its own space’
• Temporal regimes; Discourses about time; implicit difference in time between 2
zones. ‘Advanced’ / ‘backward’ and ‘Ancient’ / ‘recent’.
• T-O maps; mainly symbolic
• Concepts
o Discourse of separation
o discourse
o Topography
o Ethnography
o Cosmography
o Landeskunde
o Myth of nation state (lewis and wigen)
o Invention of tradition
• Texts:
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