11th HEIRS Conference: Narratives of European Integration

• When:	Back to Calendar » April 15, 2015 @ 09:00 – April 16, 2015 @ 19:00
  Where:	History of European Integration Research Society (HEIRS) Portsmouth UK	View Full-Size Map »
  Cost:	None - Accomodation Provided
  Contact:	Koen van Zon [email protected]
  Categories:	Conference

  “Europe needs a societal paradigm shift – in fact, nothing short of a ‘New Renaissance’.” With this bold statement, made in March 2014, a group of artists, intellectuals and scientists who called themselves the “Cultural Committee”, answered appeals from the European Parliament and European Commission president José Manuel Barroso. They had called for a new narrative for Europe, as they signaled that the old narratives of peace and prosperity, that once drove European integration, had lost their validity and were in need of replacement.

  The statement of the Cultural Committee underlines the notion that narratives are powerful phenomena. They can serve to legitimate or contest regimes, facilitate or undermine social and cultural cohesion, and influence notions of identity and otherness. They are cultural constructs, created by state and societal actors, individuals and groups, sometimes deliberately with a political goal in mind, sometimes unintentionally and implicitly. Narratives thus are a very fruitful subject for analyzing the history of European integration.

  This conference will explore the various forms in which European integration is and has been narrated, be they discourses or exhibitions, speeches or symbolism. We invite PhD candidates to submit abstracts for papers.

  For full details see: http://hum.port.ac.uk/heirs/conferences.html