European Identity Through Social Practices: Insights From the Eucross Project

This paper argues that there are two distinct logics underlying existing studies on European identification. These are grounded in models of collective identity formation that stress either messages inscribed in discursive processes or practices situated in socio-spatial relations – respectively, the ‘culturalist’ and the ‘structuralist’ models. The first one considers identification as a direct outcome of the exposure to content-specific symbols, narratives and messages; the second, as an emerging property of socio-spatial interactions that are content-free of identity references. The paper focuses particularly on the second and less developed research tradition which explores the effects of cross-national practices. A recent effort to systematize and give empirical EU-wide substance to this research line is the EUCROSS projec. After describing the project’s methods and goals, the paper will present some preliminary analyses of EUCROSS survey data gathered in six countries (Germany, Denmark, Britain, Spain, Italy and Romania) on the effects of ‘physical’ and ‘virtual’ mobility on different indicators of European identification.