ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the conceptual status of European identity, starting from a comparison with national identity. It constructs the argument why European identity could be a safeguard against xenophobia. Bruter has suggested distinguishing two types of European identity: civic and cultural. The latent class factor model builds on the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) structure, but uses dichotomous factors. If the EU is mainly seen as social democracy or has a negative image, this relation is much weaker. Instead of imposing the theory of nationalism on European identity, the chapter proposes an exploratory, empirical approach. Though they offer good reasons why this content should be post-national patriotism or trans-national solidarity and explain why the socio-cultural history of Europe makes it ripe for developing such an identity, they neither investigate nor claim what is the case.
