On January 24th, 2023, the Institute of European Studies, in cooperation with the German Historical Institute Washington, the Pacific Office Berkeley, the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES), and the Department of Political Science, had the honor to host Gregor Feindt from the Leibniz-Institute of European History, Félix Krawatzek from Center for East European and International Studies, Friedemann Pestel from the University of Freiburg/University of California, and Rieke Trimcev from the University of Greifswald to talk about their book project: Shades of Blue: Claiming Europe in the Age of Disintegration.
The Ukrainian war is a crisis that has radically shifted the vision of a united Europe with shared values, culture, and history, also called the ‘Blue Europe’. The idea of a unified Europe, where people come together, conflicts are absent, and integration becomes the main goal of governments is now slowly fading away. The scholars tried to explore this movement that has been developing in recent years, especially since the end of WWII and the creation of the European Union, and asked if this feeling of belonging would continue to persist in the years to come.
All speakers presented the different chapters of their book project. Gregor Feindt and Rieke Trimcev presented the first part, which looks at the multiple definition and measurements of that sense of belonging within Europe. It also looks at the different discourses linked to the competing conceptions of ‘Europe’ and its perception by European citizens. Félix Krawatzek introduced the second part of the book which describes the many mental and geographic boundaries of this perception of belonging, demonstrating its limitation. Finally, Rieke Trimcev described the historical perspective on this sense of affinity, more particularly its evolution throughout the recent crisis that Europe has faced. Cases in point are Brexit, which can be an illustration of the rejection of the idea of European unification, or the refugee crisis, where populist movements defended the argument of a common European culture that needs to be protected. The scholars tried to give us a nuanced understanding of this European identity, of Europe’s integration and disintegration. During this presentation, they explained the different methodologies they used, the countries they studied (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, and Italy) and the various previous studies they counted on using to explain this sense of belonging.