ABSTRACT
This chapter compares the concept of cultural citizenship, based on an anthropological study of Latino communities in the United States, with the proposal of European identity made by the European Union during the 1990s. Arguably, the European identity debate pre dates these events, but I choose to begin my analysis in 1990 for two reasons: a) there has been an increase in the focus on the construction of the European Union around the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, and b) the time frame is contemporary to the Latino studies that led to the development of this particular use of cultural citizenship. Cultural citizenship and European identity are two contemporary and circulating discourses on the relationship between cultural identity and citizenship. Firstly, I will explain what is to be understood by each at the empirical level and justify the methodology of such a comparison. Secondly, I will summarize the main differences between the two and discuss each dimension. Finally, I will conclude with a reflection on the connection between rights and identity.
