Queen’s University Belfast, 16 May 2013 I.P. Karolewski1

The Trouble with European Identity

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Structure

① The point of departure

② Major questions

③ How to recognize a European

identity?

④ Proxies and agents of of European

identity

⑤ Technologies of identity-making

⑥ Risks of identity-making

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The point of departure

Rising Euroscepticism (new anti-Euro parties)

Lacking strong public support for the EU

From „permissive consensus“ to “constraining dissensus” (Hooghe/Marks 2006)

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How much pressure can the community tolerate in order to persist?

What holds the EU together in times of scarcity and conflict?

European identity as a panacea or a phenomenon of crisis?

Major questions

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How can we recognize a European identity?

Confusing collective identity with regime support

Belonging to vs. Belonging together

Identity as dependent/independent variable

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European Public Space community-wide communication

essential to formation of democratic self-government

Reflexive identity based on difference

Union Citizenship Norms affecting citizens, internationalization of

reciprocity/mobility

Citizenship as an agent of identity-making

Proxies and agents of European identity?

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Technologies of European identity I

Manipulation of symbols

Tangible symbols of the euroAnthem, flag, European cities of culture

Foundational myth-making

Narratives creating normative and cognitive basis for identityPeace, prosperity, democracy

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Technologies II

Positive self-imagesCivilian power, normative powerCracks in the normative credibility of the EU

Transfer of identityInstitutional identity of the acquis„Others“ as potential members

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Risks of identity-making in the EU

The gulf between the elites and the EU population

Dilemma of simultaneity (Building a ship at an open sea)

How to generate a sense of community with liberal means?