European Identity reality or myth

According to several authors, a person’s identity is not innate or inherent to them; rather, it is constructed from a number of characteristics that they believe to be shared. On the one hand, Americans have succeeded in forging a feeling of identity among the many member states to the point where people from various states can refer to themselves as Americans before their own states. On the other side, there have been initiatives to forge a European identity ever since the founding of the European Union. But there is still a problem. This paper annotates four different peer reviewed journal articles on the general European identity and secondly, on the Spanish community and their European identity.

The general European identity

Ceka, Besir, and Aleksandra Sojka. “Loving It But Not Feeling It Yet? The State Of European Identity After The Eastern Enlargement.” European Union Politics 17.3 (2016): 482-503. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

In this article, Ceka and Sojka (482-503) discuss the state of the European Identity after its enlargement following the incorporation of 11 new member states from the former Eastern block. The main argument the article seeks to address, through empirical investigation, is the notion whether there was any dilution of the tenuous European identity following the Eastern enlargement thereby eliminating the formation of meaningful political communities. From their study, the authors identified that though the cognitive European identification among members from the East were lower than those from the West, citizens from the East were attached to Europe as members of the West, who were the older citizens of Europe.

In general, the article is well written and the authors are competent, being members of the department of Political Science from Davidson college and University of Grenada in U.S.A and Spain respectively. By affiliation with the given department, this acts as a strength while a weakness noted is the limited scope of their article. Further, their article helps demonstrate that a European identity is indeed a reality and not just a myth.

Slavtcheva-Petkova, Vera, and Sabina Mihelj. “Europe – A Default Or A Dream? European Identity Formation Among Bulgarian And English Children.” Ethnicities 13.5 (2012): 565-583. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

In this article, Slavtcheva-Petkova and Mihelj (565-583) assess the formation of European identity among children from the traditional Eurosceptic United Kingdom and the enthusiastic newcomer, Bulgaria. As such, the authors revisit existing debates on the relationships between European identity, knowledge and the political and historical context. Their study finds out that children who identify as European (British) are more likely to see Europe in geographic terms which facilitates the perception of the European identity as default. In contrast, the children who refuse to identify as European (Bulgarian) see Europe as an exclusive entity associated with high standards and distant elites. As a result, the Bulgarian children depict Europe as a dream and perceive the European identity as an ideal to be reached.

The article is well written given that the authors hail from UK Universities, Chester and Loughborough, respectively thereby being well versed in undertaking research. A weakness is however identified in that the authors have a limited scope in determining European identity by focusing on only two countries. It would be recommended that more countries are included in order to gain a clearer perspective.

Spanish community and their European identity

Menéndez-Alarcón, Antonio. “Spain In The European Union.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 3.3 (2000): 331-350. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

In this article, Menéndez-Alarcón (331-350) focuses on the Spanish interpretations of the European integration process. As such, the author employs primary sources and interviews to examine the perceptions of national identity, nationalism and people’s cultural attachment to the European Union (EU). The study finds out that the EU is as much about representations and cultural meanings as it is about political economy. Further, it also identifies that the EU has not far contributed to the prominence of the nation state and nationalism and has not decisively engaged the Spanish population to support a federal Europe.

The article is well written as it takes a broad approach in discussing a diverse range of opinions comprising different political parties, labour unions, business leaders and citizens. It is however weak in taking only a cultural approach while other approaches would offer substantial insight on Spain’s position in the European Union.

Sibai, Salam Adlbi. “‘Sometimes I Am Spanish And Sometimes Not’: A Study Of The Identity And Integration Of Spanish Muslim Women.” Research in Comparative and International Education5.2 (2010): 185-204. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

In this article, Sibai (185-204) explores identity and integration of female Spanish Muslim university students in the different environments where they were born and grew up in. Through the study, the researcher identifies the different elements that are to be included or excluded from the identities based on the adaptation strategy selected.

The articles is weak in that it doesn’t highlight the findings clearly despite having informed the methodology and conceptual framework followed. However, its source of strength is that it selects respondents from different parts of the world – North Africa and Madrid which introduces significant differences in the results.

References

Ceka, Besir, and Aleksandra Sojka. “Loving It But Not Feeling It Yet? The State Of European Identity After The Eastern Enlargement.” European Union Politics 17.3 (2016): 482-503. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

Menéndez-Alarcón, Antonio. “Spain In The European Union.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 3.3 (2000): 331-350. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

Sibai, Salam Adlbi. “‘Sometimes I Am Spanish And Sometimes Not’: A Study Of The Identity And Integration Of Spanish Muslim Women.” Research in Comparative and International Education5.2 (2010): 185-204. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.

Slavtcheva-Petkova, Vera, and Sabina Mihelj. “Europe – A Default Or A Dream? European Identity Formation Among Bulgarian And English Children.” Ethnicities 13.5 (2012): 565-583. Web. 15 Sept. 2017.