In the context of the ongoing negotiations about how the past should be remembered in Europe, we present a volume which concerns the Europeanization of heritage and memories in Poland and Sweden. The interest in these countries stems from the fact that they are both located along the periphery of Europe in terms of their relation to the historical and geographical heartland of European integration (France and Germany) and both of them became members of the EU relatively late (Sweden 1995, Poland 2004). It raises the question about the impact of these circumstances on the pace of integration of both countries within the EU and how much these factors matter in relation to other elements that constitute differences between the countries, especially since these disparities are manifold. Thus, Poland and Sweden diverge in terms of ethnic composition – a strongly monocultural country on the one hand and a multicultural country on the other, as a result of ongoing immigration since the Second World War. They also differ religiously (Catholicism vs. Protestantism) and economically (a state with revenues befitting a transformational economy vs. a wealthy state with social security). When highlighting the disparities, it is also necessary to mention the different status and profile of Poland and Sweden amongst the member countries of the EU, the Polish membership of NATO and Swedish neutrality. Furthermore, it is important to point out the radical discrepancy between the countries' experiences of the Second World War, totalitarianism and the fallout from the Yalta Conference.

The volume presents results from a research project financed by the National Science Centre (Poland) entitled “The Europeanization of realms of memory and the invention of a common European heritage.” Furthermore, the book reflects the objectives of this project: to describe and understand the processes which are at work in the Polish and Swedish context and lead to the construction of a new, Europeanized representations of the past. We ask how the ongoing process of European, political integration influences local, regional, national and transnational interpretations of the past in these two countries.

As an outcome of a multidisciplinary effort on the part of Polish and Swedish researchers working in the fields of ethnology and cultural anthropology, the sociology of culture, history, memory and heritage studies, this volume has emerged.