Everyday Europe : Social Transnationalism in an Unsettled Continent

Drawing on unique research and rich data on cross-border practices, this book offers an empirically-based view on Europeans' interconnections in everyday life. It looks at the ways in which EU residents have been getting closer across national frontiers: in their everyday experiences of foreign countries – work, travel, personal networks – but also their knowledge, consumption of foreign products, and attitudes towards foreign culture. These evolving European dimensions have been enabled by the EU-backed legal opening to transnational economic and cultural transactions, while also differing according to national contexts. The book considers how people reconcile their increasing cross-border interconnections and a politically separating Europe of nation states and national interests. EVERYDAY EUROPE Contents List of tables and figures Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Introduction Initroduction. Social transnationalism in an unsettled continent Social transnationalism amidst the Eurogloom Towards the study of social transnationalism in Europe Overview of chapters The future of social transnationalism in Europe 1. Cartographies of social transnationalism Introduction The European geography of social transnationalism The geography of ‘close connections’ beyond Europe The internal geography of European connections The stratification of close connections abroad Conclusion 2. The social structure of transnational practices Introduction Types of cross-border practices Data and indicators The size and scope of cross-border practices in six European countries The social determinants of cross-border practices Configurations of cross-border practices: results from MCA Conclusion 3. Cultural boundaries and transnational consumption patterns Introduction Musical taste in Europe Culinary taste Synthesising cultural consumption divisions in Europe Data and variables Main cultural dimensions in the European space of tastes Exploration of the cultural space Conclusion 4. Social transnationalism and supranational identifications Introduction Transnationalism and identifications: research questions Data and methods Results: Unpacking the impact of transnational practices Conclusion 5. Explaining supranational solidarity Introduction Understanding solidarity: existing approaches Solidarity in the European Union Conclusion Appendix: independent variables included in statistical analysis 6. Narratives and varieties of everyday transnationalism Introduction Studying narratives Conclusion 7. Understanding Romanians’ cross-border mobility in Europe: movers, stayers and returnees Mobility practices of Romanian stayers, movers and returnees Transnationalism from below and cross-border mobility Space-sets as markers of cross-border mobility Cross-border mobility and social status in the EU Data and methodology Profiling the space-sets of cross-border mobility of Romanian stayers, movers and returnees in Europe Determinants of Romanians’ mobility in Europe Most memorable cross-border trips: the salience dimension of space-sets Conclusion 8. Transnational Turkey: the everyday transnationalism and diversity of Turkish populations in Europe Introduction Transnational Turkey in Europe Portrait of a diverse population: Turks in the EUCROSS survey Social transnationalism: the everyday Europe of Turkish populations Political transnationalism: Gezi Park and beyond Conclusion Epilogue. Is social transnationalism fusing European societies into one? Introduction: one Europe for whom? Unpacking ‘society’: four critical dimensions Specifying ‘social change’: three ongoing processes Supranational and national borders: not a zero-sum game Convergence of social structures? A possible reversal Harmonisation of social norms and practices? Secularisation and not much else ‘Feeling European’: shared identification or persistent cleavage? Conclusion: a three-quarters empty glass? Methodological appendix The EUCROSS survey The qualitative EUMEAN study Index This book offers an empirically-based view on the numerous interconnections and cross-border practices that have come to define everyday life in contemporary Europe. It looks at the ways that EU residents have crossed borders to grow closer than ever: not only in their experiences of work and travel in foreign countries but also in their knowledge and consumption of foreign products, as well as in their general attitudes towards foreign cultures. Everyday Europe considers how people reconcile their cross-border interconnections with the turmoil and political separations that have roiled the EU in recent years.