ABSTRACT

It has been argued that the emergence of a European collective identity would help overcome growing disparity caused by the increasing diversity of today’s European Union, with 28 member states and more than 500 million people.

Research on European integration is facing the pressing question of what holds ‘Europe’ together in times of crisis, growing distributional conflict and instability in its neighbourhood. This book departs from the ideas of group cohesion in the EU, and reflects on the newest dynamics and practices of European identity. Whilst applying innovative qualitative, quantitative and experimental research methods and an interdisciplinary approach, this volume looks at a variety of issues such as European citizenship, mobility of European citizens, space-based identities, dual identities, student identity and value-sharing. In doing so, this volume presents new perspectives on this complex and dynamic subject and points to potential solutions both in the academic discourse and the political practice of the EU.

This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of European integration, European studies, international relations, citizenship studies, political sociology as well as more broadly in the social sciences.

part |46 pages

Theorizing European identity

chapter |13 pages

Theorizing European identity

Contributions to constructivist international relations debates on collective identity

part |56 pages

Measuring European identity

chapter |10 pages

European Union symbols under threat

Identity considerations

chapter |13 pages

Experimental exposure to the EU energy label

Trust and implicit identification with the EU

chapter |31 pages

A Europeanisation of identities?

Quantitative analysis of space-based collective identities in Europe

part |144 pages

Explaining European identity

chapter |15 pages

Crisis, resilience and EU citizenship

Collective identifications of EU migrants in Norway and Denmark

chapter |25 pages

Dual identity and its mechanisms

National and European identity in the Italo-Slovene border area

chapter |20 pages

Does immigration contribute to the formation of a European identity?

A multilevel analysis in western Europe

chapter |19 pages

Commonality and EU identification

The perception of value sharing as a foundation of European identity

chapter |28 pages

Building ‘us' and constructing ‘them'

Mass European identity building and the problem of inside–outside definitions

chapter |13 pages

‘In search of the unknown'

An essay on the need for non-knowledge in European identity research