Europa som nation : En ny stil i nationalismens genre
(2013) In Lund Dissertations in Sociology 105.- Abstract
- The vantage point for this thesis is the passport as it was understood and used in the European Union from 1999 to 2001, as a requirement to cross the external borders of the EU and as a symbol of a united Europe free from a spectacular nationalism of the member states.
According to nationalism, every nation should have its own state, and every state should be legitimized by a nation. If the modern passport has been a banal link between nation and state, the EU and its Europeanization of passports have mostly been considered as a separation of nation and state. Given that the symbols of the EU, which as well as a passport include a flag, a day, an anthem, a currency, and a motto, are strongly reminiscent of national... (More) - The vantage point for this thesis is the passport as it was understood and used in the European Union from 1999 to 2001, as a requirement to cross the external borders of the EU and as a symbol of a united Europe free from a spectacular nationalism of the member states.
According to nationalism, every nation should have its own state, and every state should be legitimized by a nation. If the modern passport has been a banal link between nation and state, the EU and its Europeanization of passports have mostly been considered as a separation of nation and state. Given that the symbols of the EU, which as well as a passport include a flag, a day, an anthem, a currency, and a motto, are strongly reminiscent of national symbols it could also be worth considering that the EU framed Europe as a nation. The aim of this thesis has been to understand how the EU could be legitimized by a vague idea of Europe as if it was a nation.
This thesis is based on observations from two border controls—Tarajal in Ceuta at the periphery of the EU, and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam at its centre—and from the immigration museum at Ellis Island in New York City, which is a contrast both as a tourist destination and as a historical border control. In combination with discourses on the EU compared with discourses on different nations, these observations have been understood in relation to theories of nationalism from a sociological point of view.
According to the interpretation presented in this thesis the EU is legitimized by a new national style through a reformulation of assumptions inherent in the genre of nationalism. This national style would imply that the member states’ Gemeinschaft should be realised within the EU’s widening Gesellschaft. The interpretation put forward here serves as a reminder of the assumptions historically connected with the passport. At the same time the interpretation considers the reformulation of these assumptions in relation to undeniable social and cultural changes. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Utgångspunkten för denna avhandling är passet som det utformades och användes i den Europeiska Unionen från 1999 till 2001, närmare bestämt som en förutsättning för att få passera EU:s yttre gränser och som en symbol för ett förenat Europa fritt från medlemsstaternas spektakulära nationalism.
Enligt nationalismen skulle varje nation ha sin egen stat och varje stat skulle legitimeras av en nation. I kontrast till passet som har varit en banal länk mellan nation och stat har EU och dess europeisering av medlemsstaternas pass framförallt betraktats som en del i särskiljandet av nation och stat. Med tanke på att EU:s symboler, som utöver passet omfattade en flagga, en dag, en hymn,... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Utgångspunkten för denna avhandling är passet som det utformades och användes i den Europeiska Unionen från 1999 till 2001, närmare bestämt som en förutsättning för att få passera EU:s yttre gränser och som en symbol för ett förenat Europa fritt från medlemsstaternas spektakulära nationalism.
Enligt nationalismen skulle varje nation ha sin egen stat och varje stat skulle legitimeras av en nation. I kontrast till passet som har varit en banal länk mellan nation och stat har EU och dess europeisering av medlemsstaternas pass framförallt betraktats som en del i särskiljandet av nation och stat. Med tanke på att EU:s symboler, som utöver passet omfattade en flagga, en dag, en hymn, en valuta och ett motto, påminde starkt om nationalsymboler kunde det vara värt att betrakta den nämnda europeiseringen som att Europa formulerades som en nation. Syftet med denna avhandling har varit att förstå hur EU kan legitimeras av en vag idé om Europa som om det vore en nation.
Avhandlingen bygger på observationer från två gränskontroller vid EU:s yttre gränser och en historisk gränskontroll som har omvandlats till en turistattraktion. I EU:s periferi har jag besökt gränskontrollen Tarajal i Ceuta och i EU:s centrum har jag besökt gränskontrollen på flygplatsen Schiphol utanför Amsterdam. Som en historisk kontrast till dessa samtida gränskontroller har jag även besökt ett museum för en invandringsanstalt på Ellis Island i staden New York. I kombination med diskurser om EU jämfört med diskurser om olika nationer, har jag tolkat dessa observationer i relation till teorier om nationalism utifrån ett sociologiskt perspektiv.
Enligt den tolkning som presenteras i denna avhandling legitimeras EU av en ny nationell stil inom ramen för nationalismens genre. Denna nationella stil skulle innebära att medlemsstaternas Gemeinschaft borde förverkligas inom EU:s utvidgade Gesellschaft. Tolkningen som framförs här är en påminnelse om de antaganden som historiskt är förknippade med passet, samtidigt som tolkningen tar hänsyn till omformuleringen av dessa antaganden i relation till uppenbara sociala och kulturella förändringar. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3971233
- author
- Sandgren, Mikael LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Dahlgren, Lars, Department of Sociology, Umeå University
- organization
- alternative title
- Europe as a nation : A new style in the genre of nationalism
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- EU, Europeanization, passport, external borders, banal nationalism, spectacular nationalism, Gemeinschaft, Gesellschaft
- in
- Lund Dissertations in Sociology
- volume
- 105
- pages
- 242 pages
- publisher
- Lund University
- defense location
- Kulturens Auditorium, Tegnérsplatsen, Lund
- defense date
- 2013-09-20 13:15:00
- ISSN
- 1102-4712
- ISBN
- 91-7267-356-7
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 53de8d85-04f7-4af3-a716-a97c62367858 (old id 3971233)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:15:14
- date last changed
- 2021-04-09 17:43:50
@phdthesis{53de8d85-04f7-4af3-a716-a97c62367858,
abstract = {{The vantage point for this thesis is the passport as it was understood and used in the European Union from 1999 to 2001, as a requirement to cross the external borders of the EU and as a symbol of a united Europe free from a spectacular nationalism of the member states.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
According to nationalism, every nation should have its own state, and every state should be legitimized by a nation. If the modern passport has been a banal link between nation and state, the EU and its Europeanization of passports have mostly been considered as a separation of nation and state. Given that the symbols of the EU, which as well as a passport include a flag, a day, an anthem, a currency, and a motto, are strongly reminiscent of national symbols it could also be worth considering that the EU framed Europe as a nation. The aim of this thesis has been to understand how the EU could be legitimized by a vague idea of Europe as if it was a nation.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
This thesis is based on observations from two border controls—Tarajal in Ceuta at the periphery of the EU, and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam at its centre—and from the immigration museum at Ellis Island in New York City, which is a contrast both as a tourist destination and as a historical border control. In combination with discourses on the EU compared with discourses on different nations, these observations have been understood in relation to theories of nationalism from a sociological point of view.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
According to the interpretation presented in this thesis the EU is legitimized by a new national style through a reformulation of assumptions inherent in the genre of nationalism. This national style would imply that the member states’ Gemeinschaft should be realised within the EU’s widening Gesellschaft. The interpretation put forward here serves as a reminder of the assumptions historically connected with the passport. At the same time the interpretation considers the reformulation of these assumptions in relation to undeniable social and cultural changes.}},
author = {{Sandgren, Mikael}},
isbn = {{91-7267-356-7}},
issn = {{1102-4712}},
keywords = {{EU; Europeanization; passport; external borders; banal nationalism; spectacular nationalism; Gemeinschaft; Gesellschaft}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Dissertations in Sociology}},
title = {{Europa som nation : En ny stil i nationalismens genre}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3871736/3971280.pdf}},
volume = {{105}},
year = {{2013}},
}