looks at the development of identities within Europe and the European Union. You will assess the mechanisms through which a new identity commitment is being formed and the limitations of and oppositions to this process. Can a genuine European identity ever be created in an expanding multicultural European Union?

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• Recognise that ‘European identity’ is a socially constructed attribute
• Appreciate the basis for the unities as well as the divisions among Europeans
• Understand the ways European identities are assessed and measured
• Appreciate the key role of ‘culture’ in the organisation of a common European identity
• Understand that European identity could be a bottom-up process as well as a top-down one.