European heritage: identity building

Brussels. European heritage.

The eclectic type and the relational type are two forms of identity building. Whereas the relational type concentrates on the identification of 'the other', the eclectic type focuses on commonalities: specific characteristics, features, values and commemorated events that are seen as typifying the particular group in question. Those two forms of identity construction were carried out in order to describe developments of groups at National level. However, they can also be used in the analysis at Supranational one.

Historians have argued that very similar mechanisms are at work in the identity-building process of an individual nation and of the European society. The main device for generating a collective sense of identity within a complex society such as the European one lies in the mode of remembering the past and argue that Europe needs a common memory in order to build a common identity, just as a nation.

Collective memory can manifest itself in a variety of ways: as incorporated collective memory in the minds of people, as objectified memory in the form of museums and monuments and as institutionalised memory in curricula and rituals of remembering.

The European heritage shapes and expresses collective European memory.

Have a look on http://www.europeanheritagedays.com