Marina Lambert PhD defence: Institutional practices of European identity construction in crisis

Description

This dissertation contributes to the study of European identity by analyzing institutional practices of European identity construction in crisis through four cases: 1) the narratives of European integration, 2) institutional conceptualizations of European identity, 3) European identity promotion practices, and 4) Euromaidan.

This study uses psychoanalysis, narrative and affect theories and utilizes a mixture of interviews, narrative analysis and document analysis. The dissertation argues that the institutional practices of European identity construction during crisis rely heavily on actualizing the affective potential underpinning collective identities, and are found to have been designed to compel public support by inciting emotions and boosting affective investment through unconscious mechanisms entrenched in the identificatory processes.

This dissertation finds that: a) the institutional practices analyzed in this study reflect a commitment to produce a compelling narrative of European integration, fit to assume the function of Europe’s political myth and thereby contribute to the promotion of European identity; b) a shift of emphasis from seeking to promote European identity through reasoning public’s support for European integration to striking a balance where the affective dimension of identity processes is acknowledged and is strategically employed to further the political agenda of promoting European identity to the public; c) while European identity promotion practices are diverse and fluid, there is an increased salience in the institutional use of political emotions for the purpose of promoting European identity to the public; d) institutional narratives of European integration are used to compel political legitimacy and public support, and utilize a set of identity-bound psychological mechanisms enacted unconsciously by societies at the time of crises.

Period	2022 Oct 3
Examinee/Supervised person	Marina Lambert
Examination/Supervision held at	University of Copenhagen: Department of Political Science
Degree of Recognition	National