Euroacademia Conferences
- Europe Inside-Out: Europe and Europeanness Exposed to Plural Observers (9th Edition) April 24 - 25, 2020
- Identities and Identifications: Politicized Uses of Collective Identities (9th Edition) June 12 - 13, 2020
- 8th Forum of Critical Studies: Asking Big Questions Again January 24 - 25, 2020
- Re-Inventing Eastern Europe (7th Edition) December 13 - 14, 2019
- The European Union and the Politicization of Europe (8th Edition) October 25 - 26, 2019
- Identities and Identifications: Politicized Uses of Collective Identities (8th Edition) June 28 - 29, 2019
- The European Union and the Politicization of Europe (7th Edition) January 25 - 26, 2019
- 7th Forum of Critical Studies: Asking Big Questions Again November 23 - 24, 2018
- Europe Inside-Out: Europe and Europeanness Exposed to Plural Observers (8th Edition) September 28 - 30, 2018
- Identities and Identifications: Politicized Uses of Collective Identities (7th Edition) June 14 - 15, 2018
European Culture as a Mirage
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Presentation speakers
- Diederick Slijkerman, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
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Abstract:
Is there a European culture? For this question research is done in literature about the history of the United Kingdom, France and Germany in the 20th century. How do politicians, journalists and scientists think about Europe? Can we speak of European traditions and mentality? Or, are national traditions still dominating? Which kind of perceptions exist about Europe? There are different kinds of motives for striving towards a European identity, such as economic, political, cultural and social ones. It is argued that a European culture in effect does not exist. If we speak of a European culture we, at the utmost, mean Western culture. Europe is a chimera. E.g. in health, immigration or policy each Member State makes a choice of its own. European unity is cooperation for economic and political motives, strategic in origin and purpose. The European institutions do not have legitimate grounds. In that sense, Brexit can be conceived as a natural reaction and exemplary of the meaning of European culture at a national level.