Glocalized Identities: Combining Global and Local Attachment in the 21st Century

As globalization intensifies, the concept of ‘glocalization’ (Robertson, 1995) received increased attention. Described as “the co-presence of both universalizing and particularizing tendencies in globalization” (Giulianotti & Robertson, 2007) glocalization is invoked to hint at homogenization as well as heterogenization of global culture. The aim of this paper is to explore the usability of this concept among mass public opinion, as the concept of glocalization implies that individuals become at the same time more globally intertwined (universalist tendencies) as well as locally embedded (particularizing tendencies), while attachment to the nation-state wane. Studies on this topic are surprisingly scarce; whereas scholarship on social identities have focused on explaining regional, national, or cosmopolitan identities separately, no studies have engaged with identities that combine strong local with strong global identification. In this study, the European Values Study (EVS) 2008 is analyzed. In contrast with other surveys on identities, like the International Social Survey Program, the EVS has asked representative samples of more than 40 European countries to which geographical group they identify with in the first and in the second place: (1) locality or town, (2) region, (3) country as a whole, (4) Europe, (5) world as a whole. Based on the two most preferred preferences, we can create an index for glocalization that combines identification with local entities (locality/town or region) and global entities (Europe or world as a whole). Derived from relevant theories, it will be studied who in which national contexts is most likely to adopt a glocal identity.