This project brings together researchers working on European narratives and modes of citizen engagement with the European Union. It aims to explore the interface between these fields of work. Studies exploring identity and belonging naturally have implications on governance. By the same token, the process of developing new modes of political practice inevitably leads to new kinds, and new approaches to, identities. By considering these themes under a single umbrella, and, more ambitiously, actively interrogating the fault lines around which they interact, the project aims to provide a unique space for transdisciplinary research that would directly involve publics across the continent.
The initiative is carried out in cooperation with Oxford University’s research project, Europe’s stories. It also builds on, updates and expands the decade old EU project leading to the European Stories: Intellectual debates on Europe in National contexts (Lacroix and Nicolaidis, eds).
The project would link two strands of research. Firstly, it would provide a hub in which a diverse range of initiatives that are exploring European identities, within and beyond the university, could come together in a single space. Other participants could include, ‘Europe’s Stories’, a project at Oxford University, This is Europe, a pan-European journalism initiative managed by the Guardian, and cultural festivals such as TransEuropa. As an STG project, 'European narratives' will also, by extension, seek to connect work that these actors are undertaking with ongoing EUI research about issues such as citizen participation, differentiated integration and policy-making beyond the state.
These elements might, at first glance, seem disparate. 'European narratives' seeks to demonstrate that they are in fact closely linked. Work which explores identity and belonging naturally has implications on governance, and citizen participation in the democratic process. By the same token, developing new modes of political practice inevitably leads to new kinds, and new approaches to, identities. By considering these themes under a single umbrella, and, more ambitiously still, actively interrogating the fault lines around which they interact, the project aims to provide a unique space for transdisciplinary research that would directly involve publics across the continent.
The project also aim to establish partnerships in the art, policy and media worlds, in order to integrate a diverse range of voices into the STG’s activities, and, ultimately, produce original work. Given the theoretical basis on which this project is conceived, conferences, debates, and performances would be an integral part of its activities.
The Team
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![Portrait picture of Kalypso Nicolaidis]()
Kalypso Nicolaidis
Full-time Professor
Florence School of Transnational Governance
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