Description
Book SynopsisThe further evolution of the European Union is mainly dependent on how its citizens relate to their fellow Europeans speaking a score of languages and belonging to a variety of cultures. This book addresses the question of whether a new sense of collective self-identification, labeled European identity, a special form of socio-territorial identities, is emerging. Collective identities are works in progress, they entail a salient strategicactivist and future-orienteddimension. Divergent strategic goals of the constituent groups induce a perpetual contestation and negotiation of the group identity, a process that in the case of the EU is intensified by the continuously changing boundaries and institutional structure of the super-polity. To confront these challenges, this book has a double focus. The first part weighs in on the feasibility of a European identity in light of what the two main paradigms in the field, primordialism and constructivism, can predict. The second part maps the so
Trade ReviewThis is a ‘must read’ for all interested in European identity and public support for the European Union. What does European identity currently mean and in what way is it important for European integration? These questions are discussed in a broad historical perspective and embedded in a systematic review of the pertinent literature. The theoretical focus is on the interplay between the national and the supranational in the development of socio-territorial identities. The expectations—drawn from primordialist and constructivist positions—are put to a wide variety of empirical tests. The analyses use the most prominent comparative survey data available as well as other evidence generated by quantitative content analysis and expert judgments. Empirical results are systematically documented. It is concluded that citizens have a growing awareness of the existence of the EU as an authority and that the formation of a European identity is well on its way. -- Hans-Dieter Klingemann, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Theories of European Identity Chapter Two: What the Data Tell Us – I Chapter Three: Theories of Support for the EU Chapter Four: What the Data Tell Us – II Epilogue
