Europe Forum: Integration and Identity

European Integration and the Challenge of National Identity

History at Western Sydney University hosts a Round-Table of European Consuls-General

Thursday 18 September 2014  
2.00 - 5.00 pm

The West Wing, Female Orphan School, Western Sydney University Parramatta

In September last year History at Western Sydney University presented the first in an anticipated series of fora which focus on the project of European integration. Our first forum examined the nexus between integration, nationalism and European identity. What drives citizens to support or resist European integration? How can the challenge posed by (economic) integration to national sovereignty be reconciled with the politics of national identity? Do the differing cultural aspirations and political cultures of the former communist states of Eastern Europe act as a roadblock to (further) integration? What is European identity? These are among the questions that were raised and discussed by a panel comprised of the Consuls-General of four European states: France, Greece, Poland and Estonia.  Professor of International Relations at Western Sydney University, Brett Bowden, facilitated the discussion; Dr Margarite Poulos, the co-ordinator of the event, opened the forum.

Dr Margarite Poulos, DVC International Linda Taylor, Professor Brett Bowden, Polish Consul General Regina Jurkowska

Professor Brett Bowden, French Consul General M. Eric Bertie, Polish Consul General Regina Jurkowska, Estonian Consul General Katrin Kanarik

This collaborative project between HistoryatWesternSydneyUniversityand the diplomatic community of Sydney was supported by the Research Infrastructure Program, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University.