Conflicting and reinforcing identities in expanding Europe from 1995 to 2019. Findings revisited in an even larger Europe.

In 2012 we published an article on how attachment to social groups might extend from local communities to the nation and to a transnational entity in the context of the expanding European Union. Since then, the EU has expanded further to formally include a number of post-communist countries and began to face some significant backlash both in Western and Eastern Europe. Using extended International Social Survey Programme data covering 28 countries and 3 time-points between 1995 and 2015, we revisit the findings and conclusions of our original article. In addition, we complement our analysis with results from the Eurobarometer surveys between 2004 and 2019. Our updated analyses show that 1) the overall level of national identification did not increase substantially in the Western countries despite the rise in nationalist movements in Europe, 2) the length of membership in the EU does not necessarily increase European identification in the long run, notwithstanding a recent uptick in European identification, and 3) ethnic minorities, particularly in post-communist countries, have turned away from Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]