Jan de Jong | Eötvös Loránd University (original) (raw)

Book Chapter by Jan de Jong

Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA network. , Dec 2015

Although the perceived lack of a European identity has always been an issue in the legitimisation... more Although the perceived lack of a European identity has always been an issue in the legitimisation of the EU, the economic crisis has intensified the struggles between national and European group identities. The main focus of this thesis the way group identities are represented in the coverage of the EU by two Dutch newspapers, the Telegraaf and NRC Handelsblad, in 2005 and 2012, before and after the start of the crisis. Using Jenkins’ (2008) definition of social identity, the way in which different in- and out-groups are represented in the articles is analysed. In line with Lengyel (2014), a more positive and stable representation of the EU was found in the more ‘elite’ NRC Handelsblad, with a more Eurosceptic and changing attitude in the more ‘populist’ Telegraaf, creating a divergence between the two newspapers. Also, in accordance with Etzioni (2013), the representation of the EU as a political community in NRC Handelsblad in both years can be seen as a reason for the relative stability of its discourse, with the more utilitarian attitude towards the EU in the Telegraaf explaining the radicalisation of its articles after the economic crisis. Finally, the main conclusion of this thesis is that contrary to Eder’s (2012) claim that the economic crisis is a critical point in the development of a European identity, the results of this thesis indicate that there are no radical changes in the identities found or the way they are described, and instead point towards a strengthening of an already preexisting discourse.

Reference:

de Jong, Jan. "The EU Crisis And European Identities In The Netherlands: Analysing Representations of the EU in the Dutch Press in 2005 And 2012". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 47-66. Print.

For the full book, please refer to:

https://www.academia.edu/21830140/Identity_Nation_City_Perspectives_from_the_TEMA_network

Conference Papers by Jan de Jong

ECPR Graduate Student Conference 2014

The EU has been in an economic crisis as well as a ‘crisis of solidarity’ for several years now a... more The EU has been in an economic crisis as well as a ‘crisis of solidarity’ for several years now and this has no doubt influenced the way that the EU is represented. In my paper I want to analyse the development of discourse on the EU in the Netherlands through the analysis of newspaper articles, making a diachronic comparison between the discourse in 2005 and 2012, before and after/during the crisis. In order to do this, a data sample of articles has been taken from popular newspaper De Telegraaf. The concept of framing is used as a way to structure the analysis, which tries to answer the question: ‘How has the representation of the role of the country in the EU in a popular newspaper in the Netherlands changed between 2005 and 2012?’ The main conclusions are that the economic crisis had a huge impact and became nearly omnipresent in the data in 2012; that the image of the EU has changed negatively, focusing more on costs; and that the main scapegoats of the EU crisis that are presented are the PIIGS countries but even more strongly, the national and supra-national elites.

2014 Conference “Entrepreneurial Approaches to Education”

A short article on ‘Approaches to Education in the Context of the European Crisis’, based on a pr... more A short article on ‘Approaches to Education in the Context of the European Crisis’, based on a presentation given last June at the INIE Conference “Entrepreneurial Approaches to Education’ in Krakow. The article is an overview of three different possible attitudes to education, giving some key ideas how this can be conceptualized. One of the arguments put forward is based on an interpretation of Marcel Mauss’ ‘gift-theory’, and arguing that values should be primary goals rather than utilities and that education should be one of those values.

Second Euroacademia Global Forum of Critical Studies: Asking Big Questions Again

The recent crisis that hit the European Union has not only had an impact on purely economic and f... more The recent crisis that hit the European Union has not only had an impact on purely economic and financial matters, but it has also substantially changed the way the EU is perceived and represented. Although the origins of the EU can be found (more) in pure economic cooperation, other factors have become more important throughout its history, in particular social and cultural aspects. This can be seen in the extensive literature on the development of a European identity or in the constitution of EU citizenship in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, but also in the way the EU is criticized for having a ‘legitimacy deficit’ or, more famously, a ‘democratic deficit’. In fact, the EU has been said to be in a ‘crisis of solidarity’ and the way that it is perceived and represented play an important role in this.
Through analyzing narratives about the EU and in particular about the recent crisis, it is possible to see how these issues play out in the representation of the EU. This paper will describe two main existing narratives, one based on blame, scapegoating and separation and one based on solidarity, community and citizenship. Although these are very different, it will be argued that they share an argumentative basis, in particular the theories of utilitarianism and of relativism. Using Marcel Mauss’s gift-theory (based on his 1923 essay “The Gift”), this basis will be criticized, arguing that it is both possible and beneficial to create a new narrative based on this theory instead. This would be not only to work towards a short-term solution to the crisis but also to create a more stable system and Union and to strengthen EU citizenship in the long-term to prevent future crises such as these from happening.

Conference Presentations by Jan de Jong

Preparing Workshop for the New Year Seminar 2015 in Olomoutz and a Roundtable Discussion on Asia Politics

This short abstract is intended to give an overview of the contents of this presentation. First o... more This short abstract is intended to give an overview of the contents of this presentation. First of all, the research presented in it is based on a diachronic comparison of newspaper articles in a Dutch popular newspaper, De Telegraaf, in 2005 and 2012. This is done keeping the European Commission’s Communication Strategy in mind, which argues that the often mentioned fundamental deficits of the EU, such as its democratic deficit or its identity deficit, can be solved through improved communication within a European Public Sphere (EPS). However, the creation of an entirely new public sphere is seen as unrealistic and undesirable, and therefore this improved communication would have to happen within the existing national public spheres. For this reason I am looking at a national newspaper to see the difference in the way the EU is represented before and after/during the crisis. The concept of framing is used to analyse the data sample, taking three frames from the literature to guide the analysis. The used frames are a ‘responsibility’ frame, focusing on a problem, who caused it and who is responsible for solving it; a ‘conflict’ frame, in which two sides of an argument are presented, and often a winner or loser is given; and an economic frame, in which costs and benefits and payers and receivers play the main role.
In my presentation I will focus on one element of my results, leaving aside the results for 2005 and the comparative element and instead focusing on the different identity dichotomies that are visible in the representations of the EU in De Telegraaf in 2012. These are basically three of these:
1. A division between (national and supranational) ‘elites’ and ‘citizens’, in a way a constructed division between ‘democracy’ and ‘bureaucracy’ or even ‘bureaucratic autocracy’; articles discussing this are mostly framed in terms of conflict or responsibility.
2. A division between ‘North’ and ‘South’, where the South is shown as the receivers, and the North as the payers for the crisis, while responsibility is attributed to the South for the crisis; the frames most visible in this division are partly responsibility but mainly economic.
3. A division between national and supranational interests and identities, which in practice comes down to an argument for national sovereignty and identity. As would be expected, the main frame apparent here is that of conflict.

Books by Jan de Jong

by Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong, Emese Gyimesi, Ali Hatapçı, Tereza Horackova, Andrea Kocsis, Edina Kőműves, Oldřiška Prokopová, Juan Gabriel Ramirez Bolívar, Nari Shelekpayev, Luis Alberto Velasco Ruiz, and Miklós Tömöry

This volume of studies is a result of the TEMA Erasmus Mundus Programme, organized at ELTE Univer... more This volume of studies is a result of the TEMA Erasmus Mundus Programme, organized at ELTE University Budapest, Charles University Prague, EHESS Paris, and the University of Catania, and showcases some of the outstanding research done within this Programme by its students and alumni on the three main themes of Identity, Nation, and City.

At the same time, it is also a publication dedicated to two of TEMA's professors, Lud'a Klusáková and Gábor Czoch, in honour of their constant dedication to teaching, to research, and above all, to their students.

Bibliographical reference:

Ira, Jaroslav, Jan de Jong, and Imre Tarafás. Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. Print.

Bibliographical references (by chapter):

Bouchot, Alicia. "« Quartier Ethnique » ou « Lieu de Mixité » ? Réflexions Autour de Deux Concepts en Sciences Sociales". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st Ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 219-234. Print.

Gyimesi, Emese. "Urban Space Through Children’s Eyes: the Image of Pest-Buda in the 1860s". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st Ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 251-265. Print.

Hatapçı, Ali. "the Image of the Kurds and the Revolutionary Left in Turkey in the 1960s: the Case of Yön". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives From the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st Ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 25-46. Print.

Horáčková, Tereza. "Les Vietnamiens en République Tchèque et Leurs « Adaptation » au Sein D’Une Société en Transformation Autour de L’Année 1989". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 67-86. Print.

Kocsis, Andrea. "Constructing a National Symbol? The Sword of God". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 117-136. Print.

Kőműves, Edina. "The Image of France and the French Civilization in the History Books for High Schools in the Interwar Period in Hungary". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 101-114. Print.

Prokopová, Oldřiška. "The Image of the Other: The Case of Eighteenth-Century Tuscan Travellers in England". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 87-100. Print.

Puškarov, Katarina. "Remembering to Commemorate. Case Study of Commemorative Traditions of the Belgrade Bombings from World War II (1995–2003)". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 235-250. Print.

Ramírez Bolívar, Juan Gabriel. "Mediating the National Hero: Alberto Urdaneta, El Pápel Periódico Ilustrado, and the Centenary of Simon Bolivar in 1883". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 137-152. Print.

Shelekpayev, Nari. "Some Considerations on the Historiography of Contemporary Capital Cities: Toward a Transnational Approach?". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 203-218. Print.

Tarafás, Imre. "Performative Notions and Discourse as a Practice. Research Aspects of the Nationality Question in the Hungary of the Ausgleich". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 183-200. Print.

Tömöry, Miklós. "National Self-Representation in and Beyond a Multinational City. A Serbian “Beseda” in Pest in 1867". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 153-166. Print.

Velasco Ruiz, Luis Alberto. "Quintana Roo, an “Island Of History”? Rethinking the Contemporary Relation to Time of a Territorial Vacuum Conquered by Tourism". Identity, Nation, City: Perspectives from the TEMA Network. Jaroslav Ira, Jan de Jong and Imre Tarafás. 1st ed. Budapest: Atelier, 2015. 167-182. Print.