Cost Action IS 1205:
Social psychological dynamics of historical representations in the enlarged
European Union
About the Action
COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is Europe's longest-running intergovernmental framework for cooperation in science and technology funding cooperative scientific projects called "COST Actions". With a successful history of implementing scientific networking projects for over 40 years, COST offers scientists the opportunity to embark upon bottom-up, multidisciplinary and collaborative networks across all science and technology domains.
For more information about COST, please visit www.cost.eu.
Social representations of history are vital to form a group’s identity. They have a wide social and political impact as they provide some of the cultural contents that accompany identity changes following societal transformations. In Europe, these representations are fragmented between nations or ethnic groups. They elicit group-based emotions that influence behaviours and may lead to intergroup conflicts or reconciliation
The aim of the COST Action is to advance knowledge on the role played by social representations of history in processes of ethnic, national, and European identities construction and intergroup conflicts. It will coordinate research on 1) the psychological antecedents of lay representations of history; 2) their content and structure; 3) their transmission through history textbooks and other media; and 4) their social psychological effects in shaping attitudes.
The Action will stimulate scientific cooperation among social psychologists and historians sharing an interest for history education from a wide range of countries. This will be done through four Working groups, two international conferences, Short-Term Scientific Missions, a summer school and a dedicated website. The Action will have an impact in both scientific and public domains through academic and public dissemination.
Here you will find the COST IS1205 webpage and the Memorandum of Understanding
COST rules are described in the COST Vademecum
Central objectives of the Action:
1. To complement and to expand existing knowledge regarding the psychological processes involved in the development and maintenance of lay representations of history
2. To understand how representations of the past are collectively elaborated and remembered
3. To complement and to expand existing social psychological theories of intergroup relations and prejudice by integrating a historical dimension.
4. To identify, through concerted data collection, representations of the past that inform contemporary political conflicts across Europe
5. To provide insight into how group-based emotions influence processes of collective remembering, identities, and intergroup relations
6. To provide guidelines for the teaching of history of intergroup conflicts through a “guide to the pedagogy of history”
7. To inform political decision makers about the influence of lay representations of history and history education on identities and intergroup relations through a brief policy briefing
8. To prepare a concerted research project that will be submitted to Horizon 2020 or Eurocores.