TY - JOUR
T1 - Vicarious evaluation
T2 - How european integration changes national identities
AU - Giurlando, Philip
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2012 The Author(s).
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - This paper explores how European integration impacts the national identities of Member States. Identity is an amorphous concept, and so this paper focuses on one dimension of it: the perception of the relative status of the nation that nationalized individuals possess. Perceptions of relative national status flow from the fact that the international system is characterized by hierarchy, competition, and concerns for relative gains and losses. A key motivation for the foreign policies of lower status nations is equality with higher status ones, and for the former, European integration is often perceived in equalizing terms. But, this perception of Europe as equalizer often does not correspond with objectively unequal power relations in Europe. This paper focuses on why, among nationalized individuals, perceptions of power differentials change, even though objectively the unequal inter-state power relations may remain unchanged. The case study is Italy entering the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union in 1999, which was perceived by many Italians in equalizing terms, even though the unequal power relations between Italy and Europe’s elite countries remained objectively the same.
AB - This paper explores how European integration impacts the national identities of Member States. Identity is an amorphous concept, and so this paper focuses on one dimension of it: the perception of the relative status of the nation that nationalized individuals possess. Perceptions of relative national status flow from the fact that the international system is characterized by hierarchy, competition, and concerns for relative gains and losses. A key motivation for the foreign policies of lower status nations is equality with higher status ones, and for the former, European integration is often perceived in equalizing terms. But, this perception of Europe as equalizer often does not correspond with objectively unequal power relations in Europe. This paper focuses on why, among nationalized individuals, perceptions of power differentials change, even though objectively the unequal inter-state power relations may remain unchanged. The case study is Italy entering the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union in 1999, which was perceived by many Italians in equalizing terms, even though the unequal power relations between Italy and Europe’s elite countries remained objectively the same.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047384099&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.22215/rera.v7i2.219
DO - 10.22215/rera.v7i2.219
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85047384099
SN - 1718-4835
VL - 7
SP - 1
EP - 14
JO - Review of European and Russian Affairs
JF - Review of European and Russian Affairs
IS - 2
ER -