EU identity and endorsement in context

1
EU identity and endorsement in context

• The role of regional identity salience

Frank Mols, Jolanda Jetten Alex
Haslam University of Exeter (UK)
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Introduction

• EC integration 1950s 1970s
• Debate Do European nation-states have a future?
• Loyalty transfer?
• Neo-functionalism Intergovernmentalism
• Neo-functionalism (Haas, 1958)
• Transactionalism (Deutsch, 1957)
• Cognitive mobilization (Inglehart, 1977)

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EU integration and loyalty transfer?

• EU integration (1990s present)
• Consensus on EUs democratic deficit
• EU attempts to foster EU identity formation
• Surge in public opinion research into EU support
• Eurobarometer data

4
EU integration and loyalty transfer?

• Opinion Poll research into EU attitudes
• Cognitive mobilization and Post-Materialism
  (Jansen, 1991)
• Cost-benefit evaluations (Gabel, 1998, 2003
  McLaren, 2004)
• Party affiliation (Evans, 2002)
• Evaluations of incumbent government (Ray, 2003)
• Perceived threat to national identity (Carey,
  2002)

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EU integration and loyalty transfer?

• Critique
• Neglects identity dimension to EU attitudes
• Social influence in attitude formation (Turner,
  1991)
• Neglects underlying processes that shape these
  attitudes
• Neglecting lessons from EU studies
• Context dependent (Egeberg, 1999 Beyers and
  Dierickx, 1999)
• MLG literature on nested identities at different
  levels of EU governance (Laffan, 1996 Meehan,
  1993 Risse, 2004)
• Exception
• Hooghe and Marks, 2001
• the need to go beyond Eurobarometer trends

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The present research

• Aim
• To demonstrate the usefulness of SIT and SCT
  principles for revealing underlying identity
  processes in EU attitude formation
• Hypothesis
• EU attitudes can become subject to comparative
  identity (Ros, Cano and Huici, 1987)

EU institutions
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Study one

• Aim
• 1) EU identity subject to comparative identity
  when regional identity is made salient
• 2) EU identity highest when regional identity
  distinctiveness is unachieved
• (Jetten and Spears, 2003, Reicher, 2000)
• Opportunity sample group (28)
• Two conditions
• Respondents to evaluate Welsh British
  relations
• Measuring EU identity before (T1) and after (T2)
• (Adapted from Doosje, Ellemers and Spears,
  1995)
• H1 EU identity at T2 at T1
• H2 EU identity highest in unachieved
  condition

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Study one (results)

• H1 EU identity does not correlate with British
  identity r (28) .23, p .245.
• EU identity does correlate with Welsh
  identity r (28) .37, p .05.
• Welsh identity predicts EU identity
• H2 No significant effect

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Study two

• Aim
• 1) In-depth examination of how comparative
  identity shapes EU attitudes and of the meaning
  and function of EU identity in regional context
• 2) Comparison of EU identity when regional
  identity distinctiveness has and has not been
  achieved
• Politicians in Wales and Cornwall
• Sample group (20)
• 10 Members of the National Assembly for Wales
• 10 Members of the Cornwall County Council
• Blanket E-mail invitation
• Selection of participants
• One hour, semi-structured Interviews
• Measuring Regional(national), British and EU
  identity
• Recorded and Transcribed in full

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Study two (results)

• Theme 1
• Our region suffers from relative deprivation and
  neglect
• Everybody should get a fair slice of the cake,
  but Wales wasnt, because Britain was very
  centralised and everybody else could get the
  crumbs. (WA03, Female, Labour)
• Wales within Britain? Its a Cinderella, always
  has been I do feel that weve probably had a
  very bad share of the cake, and we still continue
  to do so. And I do feel cross about that.
  (WA04, Female, Lib-Dem)
• Cornwall has experienced prejudice,
  deprivation, depredation and chronic injustices
  over hundreds of years. (CW01, Male,
  Independent)

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Study two (results)

• Theme 2
• Our region gets a better hearing from Brussels
• People in Wales tend to be pro-EU, mainly
  because of the hope that Wales gets the
  recognition it deserves and has never had from
  the UK level. (WA08, Male, Plaïd-Cymru)
• We definitely get a better hearing in the EU
  than in Britain. After all, the EU acknowledges
  regions like Cornwall as distinct entities, while
  Britain has until this very day refused to do
  so." (CW01, Male, Independent)
• The Regions, have far more support from the
  EU in terms of maintenance of their identity and
  those kinds of things, than they ever get in this
  country. (CW-10, Male, Lib-Dem)
• I think we are more likely to get recognition
  from the EU than from our own government.
  (CW-03, Female, Lib-Dem)

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Study two (results)

• Theme 3
• Rejection of British/English identity and
  isolationism
• The Euro-Sceptic stance is entrenched in the
  British identity. I suspect its because of all
  the wars they fought. Its very easy for them
  to blame the European Union, whereas it is the UK
  government thats not doing things properly.
  (WA02, Female, Plaïd-Cymru)
• The British vision is Euro-sceptic, because
  Britain is defined by about 58 million
  inhabitants of England, and theyre defined by
  their Euro-scepticism. (WA01, Male,
  Plaïd-Cymru)
• I see my familys future in Europe, Cornwall in
  Europe, yes, but all I see when I look at the
  other side of the Tamar is anti-Europeanness.
  (CW07, Male, Independent)

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Study two (results)

• Theme 4
• Outward looking (Celtic) regional identity
• We are one of the Celtic nations
  Historically Cornwall has had strong links with
  mainland Europe. (CW03, Female, Lib-Dem)
• Cornwall has a very distinct culture, you just
  have to look at the history of the place, The
  Cornish were great travellers, they went to
  Brittany, to Northern Spain, they were sailing to
  all sorts of places. (CW09, Female,
  Independent)
• Its being a Celt that means something to me.
  If I go to Ireland, Wales, Portugal or Spain, if
  I say I am a Celt, it opens doorways. (CW06,
  Male, Lib-Dem)

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Study two (results)

• Theme 5
• Being Welsh/Cornish is being European and pro-EU
• We are one hundred percent European We
  did have a Welsh Parliament until 1405, and we
  did have ambassadors to the French and Scottish
  courts and we have always seen ourselves as the
  European family of peoples. (WA01, Male,
  Plaïd-Cymru)
• Welsh people tend to be pro-EU Youve got to
  remember that going back into history there
  was a lot of contact between Wales and the area
  that is France now. You had all this coming
  and going between Brittany and Ireland and
  Wales. (WA02, Female, Plaïd-Cymru)
• I have always felt a sense of belonging to the
  EU. (CW03, Female, Lib-Dem and CW04, Male,
  Conservative)
• I have always felt a sense of belonging to the
  wider European experience." (CW01, Male,
  Independent)

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Study two (results)

• Narrative
• Wales/Cornwall suffers from relative deprivation
  and neglect
• Our region gets a better hearing from Brussels
• We are different (we reject British/English
  identity and isolationism)
• Our (Celtic) regional identity is outward-looking
• Being Welsh/Cornish is being European and pro-EU
• Regional EU Alliance
• In instrumental / utilitarian sense
• As well as an identity alliance

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Study two (results)

• Meaning of EU identity in this context
• Cooperative, outward looking, entrepreneurial
• Function of EU identity in this context
• To widen the gap between Regional and National
  identity
• To underscore the special bond between R and EU
  identity
• To underscore that the regional identity is
  defined by its European and pro-EU outlook
• Identity alliance to bypass the dominant group

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Study two (results)

• As predicted, EU identity stronger in CW than WA
• But much less rejection of Britishness in CW than
  expected
• Apparent mismatch between quantitative and
  qualitative data?

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Discussion

• Individuals hold multiple identities at different
  levels of EU governance (e.g. Hooghe and Marks,
  2001)
• No patterns when adopting a individual level
  perspective
• SIT as a means to examine multilevel identity in
  the EU
• (Conceptual fit MLG literature and SCT)
• EU attitudes to be considered in inter-group
  context
• Study 1 EU identity levels change when social
  frame of reference changes
• Study 2 This is because the utility of EU
  identity changes
• Patterns become clear when adopting social
  identity perspective
• Considering category salience and social identity
  concerns
• Away from examining competing explanations
• Towards examining the interaction of
  cost-benefit, party-affiliation etc. etc.
• Bringing politics back into the equation

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Conclusions

• Debate about the EUs future will continue
• Interest in EU identity and public opinion is
  here to stay
• SIT and SCT already used to develop a more
  refined analysis of EU identity
• Entitativity (Castano et al., 2003),
  Comparative Fit (Cinirella, 1997)
• Ingroup projection (Waldzus et al., 2003)
• Some interest in SIT from political scientists
• (Markussen and Roscher, 2004, Risse, 2004,
  Flockhart, 2005)
• More cross fertilisation needed in research
  into nested identities in the EU
• The End