A Geography of Coloniality : Re-narrating European Integration

Abstract

Turunen discusses how the “European significance” of the European Heritage Label (EHL) sites has been narrated through interconnections of European values and European integration. She argues that, in the context of the EHL, integration is intricately linked to the notion of spreading common values, which in turn is entangled with Eurocentrism. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the geography of coloniality: the underlying spatial structure that makes the coloniality of European cultural heritage and related hierarchies more visible. Ultimately, the chapter shows how the concept of coloniality enables us to analyse the ways Eurocentrism is also embedded in ideas about European cultural heritage beyond colonial heritage, examining the role trans-European initiatives like the EHL could have in the decolonization of European cultural heritage.