CAN EUROPEAN IDENTITY EXIST ALONGSIDE A NATIONAL IDENTITY? POSSIBLE INGREDIENTS FOR THE RELATIVE POSITIONING OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY BY ITS CITIZENS

Öz

The European Union has long been considered the beacon of a deeper economic and legislative integration for establishing and sustaining peace. However, defining European identity as cohesive enough to combat the cultural, financial and political troubles of a modern world continues to challenge EU politicians. Taking ‘identity as a dynamic, processual, and contextual phenomenon, this study examines the components of creating a collective identity with a focus on bringing legitimacy for further integration through European Citizenship. While doing that it shows that the European Identity has become more important in a world of cascading crisis. It emphasises that efforts in constructing European identity so far need a step change to strengthen a coherent and stably organized community. It underlines the fact that the EU might fail to generate a distinctive supranational identity without a real commitment to the founding liberal principles of the original European project. It demonstrates that for the human agents to conform to Kant’s conditions for universal hospitality, the EU will need to develop its education and social models further to capture global tolerance and trans-culturalism. The study therefore offers political democratic citizenship, trans-cultural space and social policy as possible ingredients of situational European Identity.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• European Identity
• European Citizenship
• Separatist Movements in Europe

CAN EUROPEAN IDENTITY EXIST ALONGSIDE A NATIONAL IDENTITY? POSSIBLE INGREDIENTS FOR THE RELATIVE POSITIONING OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY BY ITS CITIZENS

Öz

The European Union has long been considered the beacon of a deeper economic and legislative integration for establishing and sustaining peace. However, defining European identity as cohesive enough to combat the cultural, financial and political troubles of a modern world continues to challenge EU politicians. Taking ‘identity as a dynamic, processual, and contextual phenomenon, this study examines the components of creating a collective identity with a focus on bringing legitimacy for further integration through European Citizenship. While doing that it shows that the European Identity has become more important in a world of cascading crisis. It emphasises that efforts in constructing European identity so far need a step change to strengthen a coherent and stably organized community. It underlines the fact that the EU might fail to generate a distinctive supranational identity without a real commitment to the founding liberal principles of the original European project. It demonstrates that for human agents to conform to Kant’s conditions for universal hospitality, the EU will need to develop its education and social models further to capture global tolerance and transculturalism. The study therefore offers political democratic citizenship, trans-cultural space and social policy as possible ingredients of situational European Identity.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Identity
• European Citizenship
• Separatist Movements in Europe
• Supranational Identity
• Multiculturalism

Kaynakça

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