Transcending the Nation‐State?: The European Commission and the (Re)‐Discovery of Europe

Abstract

Abstract: This article examines the process of European integration from a cultural perspective. Taking up questions posed by social scientists and European Community (EC) officials concerning the possibility of transcending nation‐state and nationalism in Europe, it explores the European Commission's attempts to do this, particularly through the EC's campaigns and initiatives for forging a sense of European identity and culture at the level of popular consciousness. Following Hobsbawn and Ranger, I argue that the history of EC cultural politics provides an interesting case study of invented traditions and manufactured heritage. The political implications and problems of using culture as a vehicle for nation‐building at a pan‐European level are analysed. The article concludes with a critical appraisal of the concept of European identity and questions whether the EC's project for constructing a post‐nationalist political order in Europe is feasible or politically desirable.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 53 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.