The Europeanization of Heritage and Memories in Poland and Sweden

"The Europeanization of heritage and memories is one of the most central issues in the debate about European identity and transformation of identities in Europe. This volume presents a series of studies discussing various aspects of the processes of the development of memory, the dynamics of collective identity, and the construction of heritage in two European countries: Poland and  Sweden. (…)

The main question asked by the authors of this volume is how the ongoing process of European political integration is influencing the local, regional, national and transnational interpretations of the past in these two countries. Social constructions of the past created from the point of view of the present are often made into a political and ideological argument. (…)

Conflicts over the meaning of heritage and the right to decide upon its interpretation is part of a power game in which nation states are playing a leading role, using their position in administrative and economic structures. Yet as the idea of a multicultural society is becoming increasingly well articulated, the question of the proper representation of minority heritage is also being raised more strongly. In Europe this is happening in the new, growing European frame of reference. Europe is becoming a platform for this game, adding also its own European dimension by calling for the recognition of a common, European heritage as the cultural and historical basis for European identity."