Multilingualism and European identification

The literature on ethnicity and nationalism notes the centrality of language in group formation. Developments connected to globalization have simultaneously propitiated learning more than one language and the emergence of post‐national and pan‐ethnic identifications. This article brings the literatu...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Díez Medrano, Juan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/44407
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/44407
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/soin.12211
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Multilingüisme -- Europa
Europa -- Llengües -- Aspectes polítics
Nacionalisme -- Europa
Llengua i nacionalisme
Etnicitat -- Europa -- Aspectes polítics
Europa -- Relacions ètniques -- Aspectes polítics
Descripción
Sumario:The literature on ethnicity and nationalism notes the centrality of language in group formation. Developments connected to globalization have simultaneously propitiated learning more than one language and the emergence of post‐national and pan‐ethnic identifications. This article brings the literature on ethnicity and nationalism to bear on the analysis of these changes to assess the causal relationship between multilingualism (ML) and European identification (EI). Sociology and social psychology provide solid theoretical arguments for why they should be related. The article tests this relationship with Eurobarometer data from 2010. I show that ML has a causal impact on EI and that interaction helps mediate this relationship. The effect of language on EI is modest, however, and interaction does not appear to be the main mechanism mediating it. The article concludes with speculation as to the role of low relative cross‐national mobility in Europe as the main explanation for some of the findings.