How is Europe declining in minds? Semantic vs econometric diachronic analysis of what “Europe” could be according to the representation of Turkish undergraduate students (2009-2013)

The decline of Europe is a main topic in political and economic Geography since the beginning of the 20th century. But is Europe declining in minds and how fast is it declining? This communication will lay out a study of opinion dynamics through two analysis of two different objects depicted in the representations of Turkish undergraduate students: “Europe” as an identifiable and coherent entity and the European countries. The presentation will illustrate that these two ways of representing “Europe” are not changing in the same way. They are also not sensible to the same events or processes (global economic crisis, Arab Springs, current wars). These results could be an illustration of the difference between the branding processes of a global area and of a country in a specific population of study.