Pictures of Angela Merkel in a Nazi uniform, burning German flags, newspaper articles portraying Southern Europe as work-shy and Northern Europe as tight-fisted. The eurozone crisis has thrown up old stereotypes, often digging into well-established historical images of ‘the other’. The conscious (ab)use of national prejudices by politicians and media and the strong emotional reactions among European citizens have caused a lot of concern among politicians and intellectuals, fearing negative implications for the whole European integration process.
For the next Council for European Studies Conference taking place from 25-27 June 2013 in Amsterdam, we are looking for research projects which examine the nexus between the (economic) crisis and the use of historical images, prejudices and stereotypes. We welcome contributions by scholars from all disciplines focusing particularly on media and political discourses in different European countries.
Paper proposals (250 words abstracts) should be sent to aline.sierp@maastrichtuniversity.nl by September 30, 2012.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions. We are looking forward to your contributions.