Theories and state-of-the-art

Chapter 2 (“Theories and State-of-the-Art”) consists of four subchapters. First, it explains in which academic fields concepts of identity have been developed most importantly and how its approaches can be categorized (2.1: Concepts of Identity). Then it provides an overview on the basic contents that scholars from different disciplines are likely to agree about in the field of identities (2.2: Identity Theory: Classification of Identities and Identity Construction). The next chapter presents my considerations on the terminology of the kind of identities that this book is concerned with and my development of the new term of geographically ethnically politically defined identities (GEP identities). Subsequently, the state-of-the-art on the relationship between different kinds of GEP identities is presented (2.3 Interplay of Geographically Ethnically Politically Defined (GEP) Identities), both in theoretical and empirical perspective. The final section of Chapter 2 is concerned with the emergence of European identities (2.4: European Identities) presenting instrumental, cultural and civic approaches for explaining European identification and focusing on ethnic minority groups.