Construction of national identities in post-war Europe

The project "Media construction of national identities in the changing state structures of post-war Europe. Nationalism and the press in Austria, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland and Wales after 1945" is a joint effort by five universities: Cardiff University (Wales), University of Edinburgh (Scotland), University of Jyväskylä (Finland), University of Konstanz (Germany) and University of Tartu (Estonia).

The aim of the project is to produce theoretical, empirical and historical information for better and more profound understanding on contemporary problems of Nationalism in Europe, for instance:

• Integration process in the European Union, ist consequences and counter-reactions;
• Demands for regional autonomy or independence;
• Growth of ethnic and religious minorities in Europe and the consequent challanges to re-evaluate criteria for citizenship and "nationhood";
• Growth of xenophobic and racist parties and movements in many countries, and
• Problems of former socialist countries to re-build national self-image and identity

The project emphasizes the period after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, but most of ist empirical material is collected starting from 1945. Most recent phenomena can not be fully understood without longer historical perspective to outline how national identity and self-consciousness has been re-defined and reconstructed in changing political environments of post-war Europe.

Deutschsprachige Veröffentlichungen
Publications in English