Europe from Below

Tuuli Lähdesmäki, PhD in Art History (2007), University of Jyväskylä, and DSocSc in Sociology (2014), University of Eastern Finland, is an Associate Professor at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She has led research projects and published studies on EU cultural, urban, and heritage initiatives and policies.Katja Mäkinen, PhD in Political Science (2012), University of Jyväskylä, is a Senior Researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research focuses on citizenship, participation, identities, cultural heritage, and a conceptual approach to analysing EU programmes.Viktorija L. A. Čeginskas, PhD in Cultural Heritage Studies (2016), University of Turku, is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research focuses on narratives of (multilingual) belonging and transnational mobility in a European context, identity politics, and cultural heritage.Sigrid Kaasik-Krogerus, DSocSc in Media and Communication Studies (2016), University of Helsinki, is a Lecturer at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She specializes in media and communication, identity, critical geopolitics, and European studies in the EU context.

'How ordinary EU citizens understand and connect with the idea of Europe has long been something of a black box in research. Drawing on an ethnographic approach, this book makes an important and timely contribution to debates on Europe from below. By analysing the meanings that visitors at EU-funded cultural events give to Europe and the European, it provides valuable insights into cultural Europeanisation and the politics of belonging.'- Cris Shore, Professor of Social Anthropology, Goldsmiths University of London'The authors highlight key issues and concerns shaping people’s conceptions of Europe and point to the tension between diversity being seen as preventing a European identity while also considered core to it, acknowledging mobility as both “an answer and a challenge to politics of belonging”. In doing so from an insightful interdisciplinary perspective, they are diagnosing a major issue for future research across the broad field of European Studies.' - Ullrich Kockel, Professor of Cultural Ecology and Sustainability, Heriot-Watt University'‘Europe from below’ is at least as relevant and much less recognized than institutional Europe; this book is a great companion to effectively grasp cultural Europeanization in its diverse manifestations. An important contribution to scholarship on European cultural identity and policies.'- Monica Sassatelli, Associate Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication, Università di Bologna'We speak more than ever about identity politics. This book will be the most authoritative study of the European Union’s effort to provide European citizens with a European identity through its cultural policies. With its ethnographic approach, the book takes us beyond the top-down policy studies and analyse the many different ideas of Europe expressed by ordinary citizens.'- Jan Ifversen, Associate Professor of European Studies, Aarhus University

• PrefaceList of Figures and TablesNotes on Contributors1 Introduction: Europe from Below1 Constructing the EU as a Cultural Community2 EU Cultural Initiatives – Often Approached from Above3 Three Cases: The European Capital of Culture, European Citizen Campus, and European Heritage Label4 Previous Discussions on the Idea of Europe5 The Analysis of Europe and the ‘European’ in this Book2 Politics of Belonging: Concepts and Method1 Politics of Belonging as an Intersectional Approach2 Interrelation between Belonging, Identity, Culture, Citizenship, and Participation3 Ethnography of Europeanization3 EU Cultural Policy: Europe from Above1 Focus on Two Agendas2 Development of the EU’s Cultural Policy and Initiatives3 The Identity-Building Agenda in EU Cultural Policy4 The Participatory Agenda in the EU Cultural Policy4 Case 1: The European Capital of Culture1 From the Policy Discourse to the Implementation and Reception2 Manifestations of the ‘European’ in the Offfijicial Discourse of Pécs2010, Tallinn2011, and Turku20113 Experiencing Europe during the Field Research in the Case ECOCs4 Construction of Europeanness among ECOC Audiences5 Conclusions: Belonging to Europe through the Everyday5 Case 2: The European Citizen Campus1 Citizenship through Art2 Collecting Data and Conducting Field Research in the ECC Project3 “A Sense of European Identity”: Constructions of Europe in the Meso-level ECC Discourse4 “That Would Really Be Europe”: Europe Perceived by Project Participants5 “Normal to Feel European”: Transnational Mobility and Interaction6 Citizenship as an Element of European Belonging7 Conclusions: EU Projects as Politics of Belonging6 Case 3: The European Heritage Label1 The Construction of Europe in the European Heritage Label at the Macro and Meso Levels2 Analyzing Europe from Below in the EHL Action: Research Data and Methods3 Europe of People: Europe Starts with You4 Europe of Nations: Europe Starts Here5 Belonging to Europe: From Purposeful Vision to Banal Normality6 Conclusions: United in Plural Europes7 Cross Analysis of the Case Studies1 Bringing the Case Studies Together2 The Impact of Social Locations and the Research Setting on Notions of Europe8 Conclusions: Europe’s Lived Space1 Constructing Europe from Below2 Two Narratives of Europe3 Europe in the Making: Multilevel Dynamics of Europeanization4 Mobility: An Answer and a Challenge to Politics of Belonging5 Belonging and the Social Dimension of Europe6 The EU’s Politics of Belonging: Opportunities for the FutureAnnexesIndex