Are cosmopolitan dispositions learned at home, at school, or through contact with others? Evidence from young people in Europe

Abstract

There has been a resurgence of interest in cosmopolitan theories of citizenship over the past two decades, as academics and policymakers have sought to understand and conceptualise citizenship affiliations that transcend the nation-state. As part of these debates, a number of theories have been developed to try to explain the emergence of cosmopolitan dispositions, and in particular, why some citizens develop these dispositions and others do not. This article seeks to refine these theories by testing their assumptions on a youth sample, by drawing on the findings of the wider youth socialisation literature, and by comparing the relative merits of different 'sources' of cosmopolitanism (namely cognitive engagement; contact with cultural Others; learning a foreign language; and exposure to discussions about international issues in the public and the private sphere). To do so, the analysis draws on data from the 2009 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) and its survey of young people aged 14. Using these data, this article will show that each of these theories are positively associated with cosmopolitan sources, but that the strength of these relationships is variable and that not all sources of cosmopolitan dispositions are equal. Based on these findings, this article will argue that schools can play an important role in cultivating cosmopolitan dispositions at this particular life stage. ARTICLE HISTORY

Contextual moderators of the link between national and European identity among European youth

“…This variable differentiates between native citizens, immigrants (not born in country of assessment), and second-generation citizens (born in country of assessment but who have at least one parent born outside the country). Consistent with previous research (Keating, 2016;Verhaegen et al, 2013) we included these groups as dummy-coded variables with natives as the reference category. Political interest.…”

“…All former communist countries entered the EU much more recently (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) than those countries without a communist past and there is evidence that late accession is significantly positively associated with European identity (Verhaegen et al, 2014). Previous studies also established that Euroscepticism at the country-level is negatively associated with European identity (Keating, 2016;Verhaegen et al, 2013;Verhaegen & Hooghe, 2015). Because Euroscepticism is conceptually similar to trust in EU institutions and we wanted to be consistent in our measures across levels, we used country-average levels of trust in EU institutions as a proxy for country-level Euroscepticism.…”

“…Previous research suggests that socio-demographic variables are associated with European identity, such that girls, and adolescents with immigrant backgrounds are less likely to identify with Europe (Agirdag et al, 2012;Keating, 2016;Verhaegen et al, 2013). The evidence is less clear for socio-economic status (SES), with some studies finding that SES is positively associated with European identity (Agirdag, Phalet, & van Houtte, 2016;Hooghe & Verhaegen, 2017) while others found no significant association (Keating, 2016;Verhaegen et al, 2013). Previous research also suggests a range of individual psychological factors that should be positively associated with European identity.…”

“…Previous research also suggests a range of individual psychological factors that should be positively associated with European identity. Among these are political interest (Verhaegen et al, 2013), perceived opportunities for learning about Europe at school (Keating, 2016;Verhaegen et al, 2013), political trust in EU institutions (Hooghe & Verhaegen, 2017), as well as contact with other European cultures or people from other European countries, discussions with parents and peers about various European topics, and foreign language competence (Keating, 2016).…”

University students’ representations of Europe and self-identification as Europeans: a synthesis of qualitative evidence for future policy formulation

“…Most studies addressing the formation of a European identity have solely focused on adult participants and the relatively scarce number of studies that have tackled younger subjects have obtained contradictory results [13,37]. However, it is in fact young people who are more likely than other age groups to see themselves as European, as they tend to manifest cosmopolitan ideals, identities and conducts (Woodward et al, 2008 in [14]).…”