After all, Eurovision explains everything

After all, Eurovision explains everything

From Diasporas Speaking by Rina Limoni

May 17, 2025 · 47 min

About this episode

The episode discusses how the Eurovision Song Contest reflects and influences European politics, culture, and identity.

After all, Eurovision explains everything with Dr Catherine Baker Dr Catherine Baker is Reader in 20th Century History at the University of Hull. Her research on narratives of national and European identity in media and popular culture centres on the post-Yugoslav space and its transnational connections, from the Eurovision Song Contest to the region’s place in global politics of race. She is the author of books including Race and the Yugoslav Region: Postsocialist, Post-Conflict, Postcolonial? and Sounds of the Borderland: Popular Music, War and Nationalism in Croatia Since 1991, and The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. She is co-editor (with Bogdan C. Iacob, Anikó Imre and James Mark) of Off White: Central and Eastern Europe and the Global Politics of Race, and editor of three other volumes. She is a former co-convenor of the British International Studies Association’s South-East Europe Working Group. The Eurovision Song Contest is more than just a music competition — it mirrors European politics, culture, and identity, defying its territorial borders.Eurovision often reflects international relations, national image-making, and political tensions.Voting patterns sometimes align with…

People in this episode

Host: Rina Limoni

Guest: Dr Catherine Baker

Topics covered

  • Eurovision
  • national identity
  • European politics
  • media
  • popular culture
  • transnational connections

Keywords

  • Eurovision
  • national identity
  • European politics
  • Dr Catherine Baker
  • media
  • popular culture
  • transnational connections

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Hull

Books & works: Race and the Yugoslav Region: Postsocialist, Post-Conflict, Postcolonial?, Sounds of the Borderland: Popular Music, War and Nationalism in Croatia Since 1991, The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, Off White: Central and Eastern Europe and the Global Politics of Race

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