German policy towards the European union: The effects of historical memory

The article examines the dynamics and prospects of resolving the main conﬂ icts in the Western Balkans three decades after the collapse of Yugoslavia. The most important factors inﬂ uencing the conﬂ ict dynamics in the region are ethnonationalism, ethnic homogenization and external interference. Western intervention made it possible to stop hostilities, but at the same time it actually consolidated the results of ethnic homogenization. The Serbo-Croatian conﬂ ict is close to its exhaustion due to the actual support of the West for Operation “Storm” (1995), the exodus of more than 200 thousand Serbs from Croatia, the integration of Croatia into NATO and the European Union. Despite the negative burden of historical memory, both Zagreb and Belgrade in bilateral relations are increasingly guided by political pragmatism and balanced assessments of the qualitatively changed situation. Against this background, the Dayton model of state structure in Bosnia and Herzegovina, built on the basis of institutional transactions of actors representing competing ethnocultural communities, demonstrates its dysfunctionality. The interaction and cooperation of these actors remain largely limited, carried out under external control and pressure. Regarding the structure of the article, the author, ﬁ rst, discusses some general issues contributing to the enduring conﬂ ict in the Western Balkans; second, the article examines the prospects of antagonism between the Serbs and Croats; third, I analyze the impact of the Dayton Accords on the post-Yugoslav space. I conclude that scenarios for the future of the Western Balkans, to which the European Union and the United States are oriented, do not lead to the elimination of the causes of major conﬂ icts in the post-Yugoslav space and obviously diverge in essential points from the images of the desired future that correspond to the aspirations of a signiﬁ cant part of the population in the region.

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Politics and Morality in the Novel “The Capital” by Robert Menasse

PROBLEMS OF SEMANTICS, PRAGMATICS AND COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS ◽

10.17721/2663-6530.2021.39.05 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 43-60

Author(s):

Ivan Megela

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

European Commission ◽

Historical Memory ◽

50Th Anniversary ◽

The Novel ◽

The European Union ◽

European Union Policy ◽

Common View ◽

State Of Affairs ◽

Robert Menasse

The article illustrates the relationship between politics and morality in the novel «The Capital» written by the famous Austrian writer Robert Menasse, a recipient of the German Book Prize in 2017. The research focuses on the study of the preliminaries for the 50th anniversary of the European Commission, one of the principal bureaucratic institutions of the European Union. The article highlights the anniversary celebration settings in the Department of Culture and Education. It considers different views on the event format in terms of the fundamental provisions of the European Commission with reference to historical memory and internal conflicts within the bureaucracy. The message of the primary slogan of the project “Concentration camps – never again!” is explained, integrating the past (remembrance of Auschwitz, the Holocaust) and the present (the real state of affairs in the European Union) along with a vision of the prospective political establishment of the shared European community. In this respect, some bullet points of the report made by the professor Alois Erhart from Vienna, a think tank member and the author’s alter ego, represent a common view of substantialization of the united Europe based on overcoming contradictions between the European Union policy and the national interests of the member countries. The research examines the peculiarities of the literary space in the «The Capital». It is determined that the complexity and diversity of the work produce a hybrid novel form, incorporating the features of the intellectual prose, essay, political pamphlet, and the thriller. An important aspect, highlighted in the article, involves the issue of fiction, fabrication, factuality in terms of the author-reader game accompanying the process of sense generation and text perception. The connotation of a grotesque image of a pig running through the center of Brussels is examined from different perspectives, both as an artistic device implicated in distinct plot lines, and as a metaphor attributed to the overall state of affairs in the capital of the united Europe.

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Fifty Years of Migration, Fifty Years of Waiting: Turkey, Germany and the European Union

German Politics & Society ◽

10.3167/gps.2013.310206 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 66-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ruth Mandel

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Historical Memory ◽

Large Population ◽

The European Union ◽

The Past ◽

Past Half Century ◽

The 1960S ◽

Motivating Factor ◽

Past Half

This article describes and analyzes the complex relationship between Turkey, Germany, and the European Union over the past half-century. It asks why numerous other countries have jumped the queue and managed to gain entry, whereas Turkey has been left knocking at the door, presented with increasing obstacles through which it must pass. The role of Islam is examined as a motivating factor in the exclusion of Turkey. Also, the historical memory of the Ottoman Empire's relationship with Europe is discussed. The mixed reception and perceived problems of integration of the large population of people from Turkey and their descendants who arrived in the 1960s as "guestworkers" is put forth as a key obstacle to Turkey's admission to the European Union. Contradictions in policies and perceptions are highlighted as further impediments to accession.

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A Stage for the Outsiders of Neoliberal Capitalism: Dublin’s Gate Theatre, European Austerity and #WakingTheFeminists

10.32803/rise.v4i1.2646 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 146-167

Author(s):

Francesco Sani

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Historical Memory ◽

The European Union ◽

Cultural Industry ◽

Irish Theatre ◽

Celtic Tiger ◽

Neoliberal Capitalism ◽

Artistic Director

This essay analyses Selina Cartmell’s first season as artistic director of Dublin’s Gate theatre, in 2018 in relation to the development of neoliberalism in Ireland and the part played by the European Union in this process. Key social and political contexts are identified in order to frame this analysis, including the concentration of power in the upper-classes distinctive of neoliberalism; the relevance of historical memory in Irish culture; the restructuring of the Irish Arts Council in consequence of post-2008 austerity; and, the influence of #WakingTheFeminists’ protests against the marginalisation of women in the Irish theatre. It is argued that Selina Cartmell successfully fostered the reception of a grassroots movement (#WakingTheFeminists) into a mainstream institution (the Gate, Dublin). However, attention is brought to a pattern of homologation to neoliberal hegemony within such reception, determined by the influences of national (Irish) and supranational (EU) interventions. The article concludes with a reflection on the possibility of counter-performances resistant to neoliberal hegemony within the current Irish and European cultural industry and in the new contexts of the Covid 19 pandemic. Keywords: Gate Theatre Dublin; Irish Theatre; #WakingTheFeminists; European austerity; Celtic Tiger.

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Something Old, Something New: Finnish Living Historical Memory in the 2010s

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology ◽

10.1177/18344909211007024 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

pp. 183449092110070

Author(s):

Eemeli Hakoköngäs ◽

Anna-Maija Pirttilä-Backman ◽

Merja Halme

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Online Survey ◽

Historical Memory ◽

Political Orientation ◽

The European Union ◽

Cluster Membership ◽

Party Preference ◽

The World ◽

Respondent Group ◽

Insight Into

In this article, the authors present new results and discuss Finnish living historical memory in the 2010s. The data was collected as part of an international online survey in 2018–2019. The authors analyze the responses of 303 Finns who were asked to list three of the most influential events in Finnish history that had occurred in their lifetime or in the lifetime of someone they knew or had known. Cluster analysis is used to gain insight into the heterogeneous set of events that the respondents recalled. Finnish membership of the European Union (1995), recent global upheavals (e.g., 9/11), and historically more distant wars (1939–1944) characterize living historical memory. Five clusters—internationalizing nation, threatened nation, surviving nation, in favor of the European Union, and against the European Union—were discovered. Standpoints with regard to the European Union divide the respondent group. Political party preference and the level of identification with the world as a whole are related to cluster membership. Despite the differences in the level of identification and political orientation, the study shows a relatively homogeneous way of remembering events of the last century.

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