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Europe - a default or a dream? European identity formation among Bulgarian and English children
Slavtcheva-Petkova, Vera Mihelj, Sabina
Slavtcheva-Petkova, Vera
Mihelj, Sabina
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Publication Date
2012-11-21
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Abstract
This article examines the formation of European identity among children in two very different countries: the traditionally Eurosceptic United Kingdom and the enthusiastic EU newcomer, Bulgaria. The paper revisits existing debates about the relationships between European identity, knowledge and the political and historical context, paying particular attention to the meanings attached to Europe. It demonstrates that children who identify as European are more likely to see Europe in geographic terms, which facilitates the perception of the European identity as ‘default’. In contrast, children who refuse to describe themselves as European see Europe as an exclusive political entity, associated with high standards and distant elites. These perceptions are significantly more common among Bulgarian children, who often depict Europe as a dream, and perceive the European identity as an ideal they aspire to reach. The article also shows how ethnicity and the images of Europe influence the relationship between national and European identities.
Citation
Europe - a default or a dream? European identity formation among Bulgarian and English children. Ethnicities, 2012, 13(5), pp. 565-583
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Journal
Ethnicities
Research Unit
DOI
10.1177/1468796812465722
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PubMed Central ID
Type
Article
Language
en
Description
This is the authors' accepted version of an article published in Ethnicities, 2014. http://online.sagepub.com/10.1177/1468796812465722
Series/Report no.
ISSN
1468-7968
EISSN
1741-2706