EU IDENTITY

EU Identity

EU Identity

Authored by Eva Polonska,the article “The making of the Europeans: Media in the construction of pan-national identity”offers a concise explanation of the role that the media has playedin facilitating that process for identity-building in the European Union. The article begins by giving an overview of the various types of nationalism that have existed within Europe. Polonska also describes the events that led to the creation of different nations of the European Union and attempts to trace the footprints of existing EU members in a bid to evoke strong feelings of solidarity, sovereignty and belonging within the highly diversified region's unique post-national realm (Anderson, 1983, pp. 19).

In this article, Polonska aims to explain how, with a general lack of appropriate illustrations of a 'pan-national identity' in contemporary discussions, leading scholars and debaters are left with little choice but to refer to nations themselves in their assessment of the various politico-cultural types of identity. This is especially the case for scholars who have the intention of laying down a unification roadmap for the European Union.In addition to this, Polonska also attempts to assess if media can possibly become the conveyors of an emergent pan-national soul of the European Union (Brubaker, 1992, pp. 29).

Quoting from Bourdon (2007) and Shore (2000), Polonska tries to prove how common it is for the leading researchers of today to identify efforts of the European Union to develop and promote a 'European' identity as progression largely encompassing nationalist experiences as well as propositions. Polonska also cites Schlesinger (2007) who stated that the proposed approach adopted by the European Commission to mobilize its citizens has weakened with the grain of the state and the nation.Polonska also compares the situation of the present era with that of the 19th century when individuals has a greater degree of susceptibility ...