Cultural Europe

‘It’s culture, not war that cements European identity’, wrote Umberto Eco in 2012. But what do we mean when we connect the words ‘Europe’ and ‘culture’? In this chapter we try to unravel the connections between the two in order to explore what these have represented at different times in history and in which ways they are relevant at present. In recent decades, historians, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists and philosophers have taken a strong interest in exploring the cultural dimensions of Europe and the signifiers of European culture, European heritage, the cultural identity of Europe and the extent to which it is different from or similar to ‘Western’ culture.