Call for panels and papers for the Section on ‘Memories, identities 
and narratives of Europe’ for the 8th Pan-European Conference on the 
European Union, ‘The Union’s Institutional and Constitutional 
Transformations: Stress or Adaptation?’, University of Trento, Italy, 
16-18 June 2016

Section 13. Memories, identities and narratives of Europe

Section chairs: Carlos Closa (EUI, carlos.closa@eui.eu) and Vincent 
della Sala (University of Trento, vincenzo.dellasala@unitn.it)

The narrative turn in the social sciences has also had an impact on 
the study of the construction of identities and memory in the European 
Union as well as on the integration process itself. The recent 
interest in the construction of a European identity pushed us to look 
to the ways in which the European Union has or may become a ‘normal’ 
form of governing or,  on the contrary, this construction still 
clashes with national memories, narratives and identities. 
Particularly after the 2004 enlargement, ‘memory politics’ gained 
greater visibility in EU politics, prompted by debates on diverging 
interpretations of the past and concomitant debates on recognition. 
These debates intersect with narratives of the EU and its mission and 
with conceptions of European identity.

This section aims at examining the role that memory and narratives 
play in EU politics and policies. By ‘memory’ is meant both the EU 
attempt to root policies and politics on its own past as well as the 
struggles of member states and/or specific constituencies to insert 
their own memory experiences at the EU level. ‘Narratives’ refer to 
the discourses constructed by actors (at both national, subnational 
and EU level), such as the EU Commission sponsored New narrative for 
Europe or the New Schumann Declaration (2015), justifying (or, 
conversely, undermining) the EU and its very role. The third dimension 
of this section refers to EU ‘identity’ and its relation with EU 
citizenship and/or national citizenship.

We invite proposals of panels and papers that explore the ways in 
which Europe has been constructed through the use of memory, identity 
and/or narrative. Contributions can be conceptual and exploratory, 
looking for ways in which we might understand the role and 
construction of memory, identity and/or narratives, as well as 
empirical in focus.
Section available at:

http://ecpr.eu/Events/SectionDetails.aspx?SectionID=490&EventID=105

Deadlines and key dates available at: 
http://ecpr.eu/Events/EventDetails.aspx?EventID=105