Citizens of Europe?: The Emergence of a Mass European Identity (Electronic book text)

Citizens of Europe? examines the fascinating emergence of a new European identity: how fast is it emerging? What have been the roles of the media and public institutions in fostering or impeding it? What does this mean for ordinary European citizens? This book shows empirically for the first time how a mass European identity has emerged across the EU member states between 1970 and the present day. Beyond this novel approach, it also offers a whole new theory of political identities, based on two 'civic' and 'cultural' components. Michael Bruter shows how multiple identities reinforce - rather than exclude - each other, and studies in depth the unsuspected impact of the media and political institutions on the emergence of new political identities.