On Thursday, April 23 from 5 to 6 p.m., University of Minnesota professor Matti Jutila will present a lecture entitled "The Banal Nationalism of European Integration" in Leighton Hall room 304 on the Carleton College campus. This event is free and open to the public.
In this talk, Professor Jutila will discuss nationalism in the EU’s language and cultural policies of “united in diversity” and in the practices of minority rights protection in Europe. Jutila explains that nationalism has two places in European political discourse: It either belongs to the past or extreme right wing of the political spectrum. As such, the core of contemporary Europe is protected from the dangers of nationalism by European integration. Nationalism might be considered marginal in Europe only if it is defined as aggressive, xenophobic ideology. However, nationalism in its more banal forms is so heavily institutionalized and normalized in Europe that it often escapes our attention.
Since 2012, Jutila has served as the Government of Finland/David and Nancy Speer Visiting Assistant Professor of Finnish Studies in the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. He earned his doctorate in Political Science from the University of Helsinki in 2011; his thesis was entitled, "Nationalism Circumscribed: Transnational Governance of Minority Rights in Post-Cold War Europe." In addition to nationalism and minority rights. Jutila's research interests include critical approaches to security and politics of history. His articles have appeared in leading academic journals such as European Journal of International Relations, Millennium, Journal of Baltic Studies, and Security Dialogue.
This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Department of European Studies, with support from the Department of History Herbert P. Lefler Lecture Fund. For more information, including disability accommodations, please call (507) 222-4217. Leighton Hall is located at the end of College Street on the Carleton campus and is also accessible via Highway 19 in Northfield.