WHO LEARNS WHAT ABOUT THE EUROPEAN UNION? AND WHY? THOUGHTS FROM HISTORY TEXTBOOKS OF EU MEMBER STATES

The European Union does not convey the same reality for everyone. Beside each individual perception, it is possible to show several national representations of this institution. This fact is obvious in the History textbooks that are used for the secondary level of school education for which we can argue that there are different presentations of the European Union in each nation. The EU has neither the same importance nor the same definition. There is even a different perception of what is Europe. The History textbooks are relevant documents in order to explore national experiences of European integration because they are edited for the pupils that are supposed to belong to the same nation. On the other hand, textbooks have to integrate data as those implemented by the official curricula. We would explore the content of the contemporary History textbooks published in France, in England, in Baden-Wurttemberg, in Catalonia, in the French Community of Belgium and in Finland. First of all, I will explore the definition of the European Union. I will show for each case that this institution evokes something completely different. I will analyse these variations. Doing so, I will try to understand who learns what about the European Union. Then, I will try to explain why there are such differences. Each case presents a proper conception about what is a collective community and defines themselves in a distinctive manner. The school teaching mainly aims at introducing to the pupils the necessary knowledge in order to reproduce the values and norms of a society. In each case, History textbooks introduce a particular definition to concepts like state, nation. They define the identity of the community and who are the others. The definition of the European Union is the direct consequence to the way the national community is presented into the textbooks. In each case, this institution is presented as the continuation of the nation and as an organisation that serves it. As example, in France, the EU is presented as a cultural organisation of various national identities, in England this is an economic organisation and in Baden-Wurttemberg, this is a warranty of peace. European Union is generally very limited and is always approached through the lens of persistent national specificity. It depends on the configuration of the nation from which it is introduced. However, History textbooks have its proper logics and its analysis shows limits that will be explored. This workshop would be the perfect opportunity to confront the definition extracted from these documents with other experiences.