The Federal University of Kazan (Tatarstan), the Institute of Comparative Research in Modernisation of Societies, Centre of Cultural Studies in Post-Socialism, EC Voices Centre, in the framework of an ongoing project on social and cultural studies, call for papers for the international interdisciplinary seminar "'European Identity' in the EU and Russia: Daily Life and Public Discourse". Submission deadline is November 4, 2012.

The seminar will take place in Kazan on December 6-7, 2012.

As desintegration processes manifest themselves stronger in Europe, so questions of European "identity" become more topical. This concerns the influence of "being European" on daily lives of citizens of the EU states, and how the idea of "European identity" is now being constructed in public discourse. The problem of (not) being an European is reflected on all levels, be it ethnicity, language, religion, or culture, as well as sharing the basic values, rights, and freedoms with all the EU citizens. 

For Russia that has historically been connected with the EU states and in the recent years has been actively involved in the integration processes, the concept of European identity is also important. The seminar plans to discuss such topics, as constructing the image of an "European" in Russia, self-identification of Russians with other Europeans, and the role of perceptions of the European identity in constructing the attitude towards the EU.

The seminar will also discuss the methogology and methods of studying the problems of identity and identification of the EU citizens, the potential of qualitative research in these studies, and what results the opinion polls bring to the research table.

An important part of the seminar will be a presentation of the results of research project "The evolution of European identity: Application of biographic methods to the study of the European Identity" (EU 7th Framework Programme). The project leaders are Prof. R. Miller (Queen's University, Belfast) and Prof. H. Davies (Bangor University, UK) .

Seminar's working languages are Russian and English.

An abstract in English and Russian (up to 250 words) and a short CV need to be submitted no later than November 4, 2012 by email at voices@kpfu.ru. Please put "European Identity" in the email's subject. The seminar is sponsored by the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund, the European Commission, and the Open Society Foundation who altogether provide transport and accommodation for participants.