A Europe of Homelands or Homeland Europe: (European) Identity Issues

Abstract

This paper addresses identity issues in Europe in the context of the free fl ow of people within the EuropeanUnion and therefore the creation and reinforcement of complex parallel individual and also collectiveidentities. The authors’ premises are current EU perspectives on migration and the interconnectionof migration and identity issues. Based on the substantial body of literature on the topic, the authorsconfront various theorisations of collective identities with the political project on European identity,emphasising in particular European nationalisms, social and other identities in relation to Europeanidentity and the (ab)use of the latter as a political instrument. In the conclusion, the authors suggest keyresearch issues to orient the scientifi c research in this fi eld in the future.

Keywords

• europe
• identity
• european union