United in Diversity or Diversely United? An Analysis of Federal Identity in the European Union.

Abstract

In my BA thesis, I am investigating to what extent post-Brexit European Union citizens identify with an EU identity, and I am investigating the unmarkedness of European identity. In the past, identity scholars have discovered that identity is pluralistic, shifting, and can be communally imagined. In this explorative study, I investigated European identity, and the markedness of European identity through a textual analysis of the most recent State of the Union by the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. This textual analysis was supplemented by a textual analysis of interviews with seven European citizens, all of which held citizenship in different member states of the European Union. Overall, the study showed that it is unclear which groups are included in an EU identity, while EU identity revolves around acceptance, freedom, inclusion, and openness.