Imagining Europe: Constructing Railways And Place Identity
(2022) SANM03 20221Department of Sociology
Social Anthropology
- Abstract
- Railways have played a significant role in the development of national identity. In the
context of the European Union, I argue that it could play a similar role in supranational
identity building. Currently, the European railways resemble a patchwork of incompatible
standards and working practices. This thesis aims to investigate the roles efforts to
harmonize this patchwork play in the cultural landscape of the EU. To do this, I rely
primarily on literature review and ethnographic readings of technical documents. I find
that embedded in this technical work is a process of cultural imagining. I draw on theory
from Benedict Anderson and Sheila Jasanoff to illustrate what values, feelings, and hopes
are present in this imaginative... (More) - Railways have played a significant role in the development of national identity. In the
context of the European Union, I argue that it could play a similar role in supranational
identity building. Currently, the European railways resemble a patchwork of incompatible
standards and working practices. This thesis aims to investigate the roles efforts to
harmonize this patchwork play in the cultural landscape of the EU. To do this, I rely
primarily on literature review and ethnographic readings of technical documents. I find
that embedded in this technical work is a process of cultural imagining. I draw on theory
from Benedict Anderson and Sheila Jasanoff to illustrate what values, feelings, and hopes
are present in this imaginative process. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9092175
- author
- Ipsen, Bertil Johannes LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SANM03 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Social anthropology, place identity, railways, Europe, standardization
- language
- English
- id
- 9092175
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-22 11:35:38
- date last changed
- 2022-06-22 11:35:38
@misc{9092175, abstract = {{Railways have played a significant role in the development of national identity. In the context of the European Union, I argue that it could play a similar role in supranational identity building. Currently, the European railways resemble a patchwork of incompatible standards and working practices. This thesis aims to investigate the roles efforts to harmonize this patchwork play in the cultural landscape of the EU. To do this, I rely primarily on literature review and ethnographic readings of technical documents. I find that embedded in this technical work is a process of cultural imagining. I draw on theory from Benedict Anderson and Sheila Jasanoff to illustrate what values, feelings, and hopes are present in this imaginative process.}}, author = {{Ipsen, Bertil Johannes}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Imagining Europe: Constructing Railways And Place Identity}}, year = {{2022}}, }