Description
Book SynopsisIn this book, Tuuli Lähdesmäki, Katja Mäkinen, Viktorija L. A. Čeginskas, and Sigrid Kaasik-Krogerus scrutinize how people who participate in cultural initiatives funded and governed by the European Union understand the idea of Europe. The book focuses on three cultural initiatives: the European Capital of Culture, the European Heritage Label, and a European Citizen Campus project funded through the Creative Europe programme. These initiatives are examined through field studies conducted in 12 countries between 2010 and 2018. The authors describe their approach as ‘ethnography of Europeanization’ and conceptualize the attempts at Europeanization in the European Union’s cultural policy as politics of belonging.
Trade Review'How ordinary EU citizens understand and connect with the idea of Europe has long been something of a black box in research. Drawing on an ethnographic approach, this book makes an important and timely contribution to debates on Europe from below. By analysing the meanings that visitors at EU-funded cultural events give to Europe and the European, it provides valuable insights into cultural Europeanisation and the politics of belonging.' - Cris Shore, Professor of Social Anthropology, Goldsmiths University of London 'The authors highlight key issues and concerns shaping people’s conceptions of Europe and point to the tension between diversity being seen as preventing a European identity while also considered core to it, acknowledging mobility as both “an answer and a challenge to politics of belonging”. In doing so from an insightful interdisciplinary perspective, they are diagnosing a major issue for future research across the broad field of European Studies.' - Ullrich Kockel, Professor of Cultural Ecology and Sustainability, Heriot-Watt University '‘Europe from below’ is at least as relevant and much less recognized than institutional Europe; this book is a great companion to effectively grasp cultural Europeanization in its diverse manifestations. An important contribution to scholarship on European cultural identity and policies.' - Monica Sassatelli, Associate Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication, Università di Bologna 'We speak more than ever about identity politics. This book will be the most authoritative study of the European Union’s effort to provide European citizens with a European identity through its cultural policies. With its ethnographic approach, the book takes us beyond the top-down policy studies and analyse the many different ideas of Europe expressed by ordinary citizens.' - Jan Ifversen, Associate Professor of European Studies, Aarhus University
Table of ContentsPreface List of Figures and Tables Notes on Contributors 1 Introduction: Europe from Below 1 Constructing the EU as a Cultural Community 2 EU Cultural Initiatives – Often Approached from Above 3 Three Cases: The European Capital of Culture, European Citizen Campus, and European Heritage Label 4 Previous Discussions on the Idea of Europe 5 The Analysis of Europe and the ‘European’ in this Book 2 Politics of Belonging: Concepts and Method 1 Politics of Belonging as an Intersectional Approach 2 Interrelation between Belonging, Identity, Culture, Citizenship, and Participation 3 Ethnography of Europeanization 3 EU Cultural Policy: Europe from Above 1 Focus on Two Agendas 2 Development of the EU’s Cultural Policy and Initiatives 3 The Identity-Building Agenda in EU Cultural Policy 4 The Participatory Agenda in the EU Cultural Policy 4 Case 1: The European Capital of Culture 1 From the Policy Discourse to the Implementation and Reception 2 Manifestations of the ‘European’ in the Offfijicial Discourse of Pécs2010, Tallinn2011, and Turku2011 3 Experiencing Europe during the Field Research in the Case ECOCs 4 Construction of Europeanness among ECOC Audiences 5 Conclusions: Belonging to Europe through the Everyday 5 Case 2: The European Citizen Campus 1 Citizenship through Art 2 Collecting Data and Conducting Field Research in the ECC Project 3 “A Sense of European Identity”: Constructions of Europe in the Meso-level ECC Discourse 4 “That Would Really Be Europe”: Europe Perceived by Project Participants 5 “Normal to Feel European”: Transnational Mobility and Interaction 6 Citizenship as an Element of European Belonging 7 Conclusions: EU Projects as Politics of Belonging 6 Case 3: The European Heritage Label 1 The Construction of Europe in the European Heritage Label at the Macro and Meso Levels 2 Analyzing Europe from Below in the EHL Action: Research Data and Methods 3 Europe of People: Europe Starts with You 4 Europe of Nations: Europe Starts Here 5 Belonging to Europe: From Purposeful Vision to Banal Normality 6 Conclusions: United in Plural Europes 7 Cross Analysis of the Case Studies 1 Bringing the Case Studies Together 2 The Impact of Social Locations and the Research Setting on Notions of Europe 8 Conclusions: Europe’s Lived Space 1 Constructing Europe from Below 2 Two Narratives of Europe 3 Europe in the Making: Multilevel Dynamics of Europeanization 4 Mobility: An Answer and a Challenge to Politics of Belonging 5 Belonging and the Social Dimension of Europe 6 The EU’s Politics of Belonging: Opportunities for the Future Annexes Index
