Defining Europe: cultural heritage policy and identity

Abstract

Constructivist theories from International Relations have long been interested in the European Union and its identity. Nonetheless, there is a lack of studies from the critical constructivist strand which, unlike its conventional counterpart, tries to explain how identities are created by discourse. This study seeks to explain how European identity is constructed and reinforced by the EU’s cultural heritage policy, using The European Heritage Label as case study. This initiative’s 48 selection panel reports, 38 promotional videos, and 10 site descriptions were used as data. The methodological approach employed was qualitative with Topoi Analysis as a sub-category of Critical Discourse Analysis. The results show that the EU’s cultural heritage policy reinforces the categories of inclusive identity, while at the same time, but with less frequency, also constructs a more exclusive European identity. These findings have relevant implications for theory, future research, and the EU itself.