The search for legitimation in the past is a common tendency, especially evident in the present political landscapes both within and beyond the EU. The construction of a ‘useable past’ is an intentional and biased process, and it can significantly affect governance and citizen participation in democracy.
This project on the uses of history of the EU in (de-)legitimating narratives engages with the pressing need to improve our understanding of current attempts to foster a European historical consciousness, recently highlighted by European Parliament Resolutions.
By targeting university students, citizens, local and international stakeholders, the project will contribute to raise awareness about the intersections between the history and the politics of the EU within and beyond academia and specialized audiences. At the same time, the project aims at spreading knowledge about the audio-visual heritage of the EU and to promote access to documentation centres, physical and digital archives, and museums.
The project will address key-questions such as:
• Which ‘usable pasts’ have been constructed, transferred and spread among different agents and regions to promote or criticize the European Community/Union over the last eighty years?
• What kind of ideological traditions/structures guide and restrict the search for (de-)legitimation of the European Community/Union in the past?
• When do the uses of the past of the EU conflict with values of democratic citizenship, political pluralism or fundamental human rights?
• What can the uses and/or abuses of history reveal about the need and current attempts to foster a European historical consciousness in the transnational and global context?
The project will be structured around three Trails of initiatives:
• Curricular teaching activities:
2 University courses and 1 University seminar per year
• Research-based teaching activities:
3 workshops and a final conference
• Public events and civil society networking:
3 cycles of public conferences and a final exhibition
At the local level, the Chair holder will collaborate with historical/cultural foundations, museums and libraries engaged in active citizenship programmes. At the international level, the Chair will involve institutions and networks to co-design schemes aimed at promoting education and mobilisation around the importance of fostering a critical European historical consciousness amongst circles of civil society, with particular attention to young people.