Struggle and banality of belonging to Europe : Cultural Europeanization from the perspective of the Central and East European citizens

Abstract
The European Union (EU) has developed cultural policy initiatives that seek to promote cultural Europeanization with the purpose of constructing European identity narratives and facilitating citizens’ sense of belonging to Europe and the EU. The article focuses on the citizens’ perspective to cultural Europeanization through ethnographic research on one central action in the EU cultural policy, European Heritage Label (EHL). We analyse the interviews conducted in selected EHL sites with Central and East European (CEE) citizens who were visiting the sites as well as with cultural heritage practitioners working at three EHL sites located in CEE countries. We ask how the practitioners and the visitors engage with European identity narratives and elaborate their European belonging. We especially scrutinize how everyday encounters and experiences, such as mobility, shape identifications with ‘Europe’ and perceptions of what is ‘European’. The interviews are interpreted in the theoretical framework of ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ European. This framework indicates a centuries-long liminal position of the Central and Eastern Europe. It enables us to scrutinize CEE citizens’ sense of belonging to Europe in an intersection of dual Europeanization, i.e. cultural Europeanization and ‘Europeanization’ of the CEE countries to overcome this liminal position and become ‘true’ Europeans.
Main Authors
Format
Articles Research article
Published
2023
Series
Subjects
Publication in research information system
Publisher
Routledge
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202305102925Use this for linking
Review status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1478-2804
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2023.2207000
Language
English
Published in
Journal of Contemporary European Studies
Citation
  • Mäkinen, K., & Kaasik-Krogerus, S. (2023). Struggle and banality of belonging to Europe : Cultural Europeanization from the perspective of the Central and East European citizens. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, Early online. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2023.2207000
License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0Open Access
Funder(s)
European Commission
Research Council of Finland
Funding program(s)
ERC Starting Grant
Academy Project, AoF
ERC Starting Grant
Akatemiahanke, SA
European CommissionResearch Council of FinlandEuropean research council
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Additional information about funding
The work was supported by the Academy of Finland [330602]; European Research Council [636177]
Copyright© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

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