Harmonising British and European Identity in a Technological Project

• Thesis title in Czech: Harmonizace britské a evropské identity v technologickém projektu
• Thesis title in English: Harmonising British and European Identity in a Technological Project
• Key words: Integrace|Europeizace|Identity|Británie|Evropa|Technologie|Eurofighter Typhoon
• English key words: Integration|Europeanisation|Identity|Britain|Europe|Technology|Eurofighter Typhoon
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2015/2016
• Thesis type: diploma thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Institute of General History (21-USD)
• Supervisor: Mgr. Jiří Janáč, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 25.05.2016
• Date of assignment: 26.05.2016
• Administrator's approval: not processed yet
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 24.06.2016
• Date and time of defence: 16.06.2017 09:00
• Date of electronic submission: 17.05.2017
• Date of proceeded defence: 16.06.2017
• Submitted/finalized: committed by worker on behalf on and finalized
• Opponents: prof. Gábor Sonkoly

Guidelines

The research project will focus on the relationship between technology and European integration. This shall involve taking a transnational European project and using it as a lens to trace processes of Europeanisation in the United Kingdom. The chosen project, the development of the Eurofighter typhoon, involved numerous major European nations in various degrees of participation. The inspiration for this work comes from the advancing field of technological history spearheaded by Johan Schott and Thomas Misa, as well as similar studies undertaken by Judith Schueler and Gabrielle Hecht. They prove that the lens of technology provides a unique insight into the integration and fragmentation processes active in modern Europe.
The symbolic value of big technological projects have often been mobilized to support political or economic integration goals. In the case of the Eurofighter this involved the promise and co-operation of various national defence ministries to deliver an efficient, capable and modern aircraft to help harmonise Europe’s contemporary military capability. For politicians, this goal was veered toward support for political and economic integration into the ‘European Club’ and the EJ200 could be an example of what Europe can do for the nation. However, with the complications of the project, this harmonisation became increasingly hard to sell, and an interesting discourse follows between the promoters, detractors and more neutral commentators on the story of the aircrafts development. This is what this thesis shall be based upon.

References

Badenoch, Alexander and Fickers, Andres – Materialising Europe: Transnational Infrastructures and the Project of Europe (Macmillan: Basingstoke 2010).
Hecht, Gabrielle - The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity (MiT Press: Massachusetts 2009).
Hirschhausen, Ulrike and Patel, Kiran Klaus – Europeanisation in History: An Introduction, in (ed) Martin Conway and Kiran Klaus Patel, Europeanization in the Twentieth Century: Historical Approaches (Macmillan: Basingstoke 2010), pp. 1 -19.
Misa, Thomas J. and Schott, Johan - Inventing Europe: Technology and the Hidden Integration of Europe, History and Technology: An International Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1 (March 2005), pp. 1 – 21.
Schueler, Judith – Materialising Identity: The Co-construction of the Gotthard Railway and Swiss National Identity (Aksant: Amsterdam 2008).
Trischler, Helmuth and Weinberger, Hans – Engineering Europe: Big Technologies and Military Systems in the Making of Twentieth Century Europe, History and Technology: An International Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1 (March 2005), pp. 49 – 85.