“My European feelings are not only based on the fact that I live in Europe”

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Krzyżanowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
National Identities ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
European Citizenship ◽  
Identification Processes

Identity has recently become one of the most frequently theorised and explored topics within various sub-branches of social sciences. Collective identities in general, and their ancestry and construction in particular, are being perceived in different ways by historians, anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists and, last but not least, discourse-analysts. This article aims at shedding a new light on the concept of European identity, which, so far, has been most frequently analysed within the context of the European Union and its political and economic impact on European space. Despite drawing theoretically on some well-grounded traditions of research on European identity, such as, e.g., analysis of its contradiction and suplementariness with national identities, or, its interconnection with such concepts as European citizenship or European integration, the analysis of European identity presented here is put in the context of globally understood identification processes. Empirically, the article draws on the analysis of TV talk show thematically bound by the topics concerning European Union’s impact on national identities.

Gazing at Fiction in Brussels: Europe as Forgery in David Černý's Entropa

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Zigelyte
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Political Institution ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Politics And Culture ◽  
National Stereotypes

This article explores issues of visual representations and the interaction between fiction and reality in the making of the ‘idea of Europe’. It specifically focuses on David Černý's installation Entropa, exhibited at the headquarters of the Council of the European Union in 2009. The article argues that, despite the use of national stereotypes as the most characteristic representational element of the installation, Entropa does not limit itself to a sardonic critique of a political institution and a ridicule of national identities. Rather, it unveils the uneasiness of facing European identity as fiction. Entropa challenges the boundary between theatricality and reality, because it is exhibited in a political institution. The installation is addressed as a narrative of confusion, where fiction and fact interact in the construction of ideas on Europe, its history, politics, and culture. Therefore, the article concludes, such interaction potentially accommodates a critical standpoint towards the idea of Europe itself.

scholarly journals European Identity Issues in the Era of Globalization

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 239
Author(s):  
Elira Luli
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Member State ◽  
National Interest ◽  
National Identities ◽  
State Model ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National State ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
European Dimension

Globalization is already an uncontestable process nowadays. Its impacts have affected areas such as: economy, politics, geographical territorial boundaries, identity and national interest, style of life, customs and traditions. Thinking about globalization, the European Union is one of the proper indicators of free circulation of goods, people, products and services. In this context, EU member states are not just a unity of states who share benefits such as single market, currency, space, common civilization values and identity but also a division when it comes to questions related to national interest and national state model and role, sovereignty and ideological issues that some member state are such in obsolete manner attached to them. This paper will examine identity issues within the frame of European Union, in particular not implicitly the unifying factors such as art, culture and history but the divergences that stems from the fact of a single policy for a joint European national interest and speaking in one voice. Ultimately, as the globalization process continue to expand how possible will be to still cultivate culture diversity beyond national frames and extend national identities within a European dimension.

scholarly journals Untitled

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 36-41
Author(s):  
Ana Maria Anghelea
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Maastricht Treaty ◽  
National Identities ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Eu

When at the end of the 1980s the EU launched a number of policies aimed to creating a European identity, the member states responded by incorporating into the Maastricht Treaty a clause stating that the European Union should respect the member states’ respective national identities (article F, point1). This reaction, along with the introduction of principle of subsidiary and the rejection of the word “federal”, revealed that many member states considered the creation of a European identity as a potential threat to their own national identities and their citizen’s national loyalties (Hojelid, 2001).

Kernelemente der europäischen Integration

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Working Group ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Core Elements

The 100th volume of this series presents a collection of overall observations on selected core elements of the cohesion of the European Union, written by particularly committed members of the working group on European integration from the fields of political science, law, economics, the social sciences and history.

scholarly journals ‘Miki-le-toss ou comment repérer un guech en quelques leçons’: l’identité ethnique ‘tos’ en France à travers les blogs de jeunes lusodescendants ('Miki-le-toss' or How to Spot a 'Guech' in a Few Lessons: 'Tos' Ethnic Identity in France in the Blogs of French-Portuguese Youth)

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
National Identities ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Cultures ◽  
Migrant Populations ◽  
European Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Movement

In this article, I analyze the ‘tos’ ethnic identity, as expressed in blogs written by French-Portuguese teenagers in France, also called ‘lusodescendants,’ who are the children of Portuguese residents. Starting in the eighties, the reclaiming of this ethnic identity has been reinforced by Portugal’s entry in the European Union in 1986, the institutionalization of links between the lusodescendants and Portugal, and France’s recent opening to its migrant populations. Influenced by the Chicano cultural movement, the ‘tos’ movement shares some of its foundational features: a myth of origin, a privileging of unity, and a conservative notion of family. Despite this movement’s nationalist tendencies, I argue that it does not threaten this youth’s integration to France or to Europe, especially since lusodescendants, who are often Portuguese and French nationals, feel ‘twice European.’ In their case, European identity, to which they never refer in the blogs, is a mere sum of national identities. If a common European identity were needed, it should not be in the form of assimilationist policies replacing national cultures by a ‘European culture.’ Indeed, most European countries share a history of dictatorships and nationalisms, i.e. of official cultures being forced onto people. This dictatorial and nationalist past is directly responsible for the Portuguese diaspora and the lusodescendants’ ethnic identity claims today.

scholarly journals Europeanness: A Path To Unity Within The European Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61
Author(s):  
Ryszard Piasecki ◽  
Jan Woroniecki
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
National Identities ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The West ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
European Values ◽  
European Education ◽  
Proactive Measures ◽  
The Eu

The postwar experience has shown that the implanting of European consciousness, or Europeanness, calls for coordinated efforts among the European institutions, national states, and NGOs. Such consciousness, a key pillar of the European integration, is necessary for the EU to effectively function and motivate member states’ – also the EU’s – citizens. And yet European institutions and EU governments show little interest in promoting the formation of this European consciousness. Pro-European social movements are weak, while anti-European ones gain strength. This désintéressement of the EU countries probably results from the conviction that the goal has been reached and that there is no more need for a widespread pro-European education of their societies. However analysis of the problem, and in particular of the interaction between European and national identities, shows that this is not the case. We fear that this lack of proactive measures mobilizing EU citizens to keep on struggling for a common Europe will lead to the erosion of existing achievements of integration within the EU, and undermine European values. It may threaten the future of the EU, which is not an ordinary integration grouping but a great peaceful, civilizational, social and economic project. Our hypothesis – positively verified in this article – is that the promotion of Europeanness in the EU societies is urgently needed to maintain the unity (and even membership) of the Union, and to avert trends unfavorable for all of Europe and therefore for the West as a whole.

Competing Visions: Discursive Articulations of Polish and European Identity after the Eastern Enlargement of the EU

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-356
Author(s):  
Magdalena Góra ◽  
Katarzyna Zielińska
Keyword(s):  
European Parliament ◽  
National Identities ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
New Members ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Supranational Level ◽  
The Eu

The enlargement of 2004 and 2007 significantly transformed the European Union in political, economic, and social terms. It also challenged the collective identities of Western Europeans as well as each of the newcomers. However, for new members, the prospect of joining a supranational political entity posed a threat to their newly established or regained sovereignty and nationhood. The integration triggered a process of redefinition of both their self-perception and the perception of Europe as a common project. The article offers a case study of how the Polish Members of the European Parliament discursively (re)construct national and European identities and how these constructions relate to each other. The analysis reveals three main visions of the European identity that are voiced by the Polish representation and corresponding visions of national identity. By focusing on the supranational level of the European Parliament and contextualising the analysed constructions with references to national debates, the study is able to nuance the existing theoretical accounts of European and national identities.

scholarly journals Through Thick and Thin: ‘European Identification’ for a Justified and Legitimate European Union

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-47
Author(s):  
Anna C. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
European Integration ◽  
National Identities ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Common Identity ◽  
Rule Out ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Normative Political Theory

Debates on the viability of European integration often rest on the need for some form of common European identity. This article looks at European integration through the framework of normative political theory to explore what form of European identity is needed for the EU to be considered both justified – having a good or just reason for existence, and legitimate – having consent from its citizens. It critiques arguments for a purely justified EU, which rule out the need for a common European identity, as well as those requiring a thick common identity for a legitimate EU. In contrast, this article argues for a European identification that is both desirable as an identity and works to sustain a justified and legitimate EU. The proposed conception of European identification takes into consideration national and sub-national identities and opens up the potential for Europeanised identities at multiple levels.

scholarly journals Common currency, common identity? The impact of the Euro introduction on European identity

2020 ◽  
pp. 146511652097028
Author(s):  
Fedra Negri ◽  
Francesco Nicoli ◽  
Theresa Kuhn
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Data Model ◽  
Dynamic Panel Data ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Dynamic Panel ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
The Impact

Does European state building go hand in hand with European nation building? This article engages with the scholarly debate on the dynamic relationship between the construction of supranational political institutions that exert key functions of sovereignty and collective identities by investigating the extent to which the adoption of the Euro as a currency is associated with a decrease in the share of Europeans who identify exclusively with their nation and not with the European Union. In detail, by using a dynamic panel-data model on 26 European Union countries in the post-Maastricht period (1996–2017), our results show that the Euro has fostered European identity, leading to a small but significant decrease (-3%) in the share of Europeans with exclusive national identity.

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