Reconceptualizing the Nation: European Union Civil Religion

• In Event: European Politics and Society Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

While civil religion has receded from the literature over the past several decades, it presents a helpful analytical tool to understand a new post-modern era of nation-building for transnational polities. This paper considers the unique example of the European Union (EU) as a constellation of various levels of governance, ranging from intergovernmental to supranational, in the framework of civil religion. This paper aims to demonstrate that the EU, as a non-traditional polity, is a nascent nation with a civil religion. Moreover, civil religion is most impactful when it is both elite-driven and organically expressed and felt within the population. The paper discusses civil religion as an analytical framework applicable to nations. It then proceeds to identify elements of civil religion for the EU, including: (1) a cultus, (2) myths, (3) identity projection through relations with other nations, and (4) integration with other communal religions. The paper considers the importance of an EU civil religion on its future governance and relations with other states and nations. It also draws on lessons learned from nations and nation-states' experiences to inform the future development of EU civil religion. Finally, the paper concludes with a call for future scholarship on the EU to leverage the concept of the nation to understand itself and its purpose better.

Author

• Paul Max Love, University of California, Irvine