Multiple collective identities: The emergence of a new field of research in the social sciences. Introduction

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War and in this age of globalization, we are witnessing various moments of the opening and closing of collectives. The successful integration and enlargement processes of the European Union were long considered one of the greatest marvels of the 20th century. Here, previously nationalism-driven communities deeply abhorring each other joined a new collective, initially designed mainly as a problem-solving community of economic cooperation and, from the 1990s on, as a political community with common, supranational institutions, which today shape important parts of our everyday life. The EU can perhaps be seen as one of the most spectacular examples of the opening of collectives, but also of the construction of a new narrative allowing the formation of a genuine multiple identity that integrates the European idea as a central component of one’s national identity.