ABSTRACT

This chapter examines different dimensions of identification: city, national, and cosmopolitan identification, transnational solidarity, attachment to the European Union, and identification with the country of residence by foreign partners in binational couples. It speaks to both Europeanization as de-nationalization. Partners in binational couples display greater awareness of being European and express more attachment to the European Union than do partners in national couples. They also identify strongly with their city of residence, but less so than do partners in national couples. Beyond these contrasts, partners in binational couples express as much attachment to their nationality and display as much national egoism as do partners in national couples. The contrasts and similarities above invite drawing a sharp distinction between socio-geographical and political identifications and reveal the limits of intermarriage as a force of cosmopolitan change. The chapter also shows that greater awareness of being European and greater attachment to the European Union reflect in part greater openness to the world, early socialization experiences, and the learning of foreign languages. It also focuses on and explains contrasts between less educated and more educated foreign partners in binational couples, especially the stronger identification with city and country of residence expressed by the former.