The Narrative Construction of European Identity. Meanings of Europe ‘from below’

This article forms a part of the scientific debate on the change of identities related to the process of European integration. It draws on sociological tools for putting forward the concept of ‘narrative identity’ for the analysis of the European sense of belonging. It assumes that the narratives of Europe shared in the transnational networks, which have developed with Europeanization and globalization, contribute to the construction of European identity. It also presumes that the meanings attributed to Europe are shaped by the social context in which people live and are influenced by the local dimension where everyday life takes place. By presenting a qualitative empirical research conducted in two different Italian local contexts, the article highlights the narratives of Europe shared by Europeans from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, how different stories take shape and what types of European identity they contribute to construct. Results show that the narratives of Europe are multi-level stories, a mixture of values and references coming from local cultural heritages and national history, and linked to the European post-national plot. Both subjective autonomy and structural social conditioning influence the conceptualization of Europe and European identity is embedded in local territories. The dynamics of identity formation and the openness toward Europe in local identities are connected to the ‘habitus’ and related to variables such as education, socio-economic background, media exposure, transnational networking, participation and experiencing Europe.