Europinės tapatybės kūrimas Europos Sąjungos kultūros politikoje. 1. Bendras europos kultūrinis palikimas
Construction of European identity in the European Union’s cultural politics. 1. A common European cultural heritage

Summary/Abstract: Summary The construction of European identity in the history of European integration has been shaping the cultural dimension. In the post-war European integration, the cultural concerns were raised in the 1970s and 80s when the processes of integration slowed down because of the world economic crisis, as well as of the protectionism and isolationism that followed in the politics of the member states. The European integration based on the pursuit of economic interests failed and proved that the social and cultural cohesion of people was no less important than the free market. Since Tindemans (1975) and Adonnino (1985) Reports, the European Community through numerous cultural programmes has constantly taken an active part in the construction of European identity based on the common European cultural heritage. The official formula “unity in diversity” (Maastricht Treaty, article 128) embraces the Europe’s cultural and ethnical plurality and constitutes the unity around the common European cultural heritage. The rationality and law of Antiquity, the Christian social solidarity, the Renaissance humanism, the scientific revolution and Enlightenment secularism, democracy and the constitutional rights of people are presented as the core roots forming the common cultural traditions of Europeans. This notion can be qualified as naturalistic in the treatment of history, essentialistic in the discourse on culture, and instrumentalist-elitist in the European Commission’s approach to the cultural policies. This means that the official approach to the culture of Europe tends to the formation of “fate community” – very similar to the mechanisms of building modern nation in a centralized nation-state.

• Details
• Contents