Negotiating Nationhood in a Changing Europe - Views From the Press

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Year:
Pages:340
ISBN:0-7734-7129-4
978-0-7734-7129-0
Price:$219.95 + shipping
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National identities in Europe go through a process of transformation. The empirical material presented in this book provides an overview of collective identities in contemporary Europe and highlights their evolution during the past twenty years. The study concentrates on the national press, because the media are seen as an important carrier of identity discourses. The study of representations of ‘Us, the nation,’ relevant outgroups, and the interaction between them starts with the end of the Cold War era, goes through the collapse of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, and reaches the present and the realization of a European Union.

Reviews

“ ... combines a sophisticated theoretical framework with a concentrated empirical study of four European countries (Britain, Germany, Greece and Italy) to examine this relationship in a well-presented analysis ... The author's conclusion is that new ways of representing the nation are in evidence as a result of national interaction with transnational (European) and sub-national (often ethno-regional) levels and the post-Cold war emergence of issues such as immigration and Eastwards enlargement ... It presents a clear model of identity formation based on a command of the relevant theoretical literature ... likely to have a broad market, appealing to students of European studies, academics and media professionals.” – Dr. John Hutchinson, London School of Economics and Political Science

“This book is a theoretically important, empirical-methodology innovative and, in addition, very well written comparative study on the contemporary reconstruction of national identities in current member states of the European Union ... makes a very fruitful contribution to the recent debate on the relationship between national and European identities by including immigration and ethnic minorities as well as the reconfiguration of Europe as crucial factors ... it provides rich and important data on the (re)construction of the presentations of ethnic minorities, the nation and Europe on the elite and mass levels in the four cases. And finally, as each case is interesting as such, the comparative method used generates systematic knowledge about commonalities and differences.” – Professor Willfried Spohn, New York University

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
1. Immigrants, Minorities, and the European Union: A Challenge to National Identity
2. National Identity Reconsidered
3. Greece: Between East and West
4. Italy: A European Nation
5. Britain: A Crisis of Identity
6. Germany: Between Re-unification and European Integration
7. Comparisons Across Europe
8. New Discourses of Nationhood
Appendix
Bibliography
Index

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