Small is Beautiful? Identity and Placism in Europe

For some decades, increasing European integration has occurred alongside enlargement inspired by a ‘European Dream’ of spreading peace, tolerance and human rights through developing a common set of values, currency, mobility and a social model. This dream was to a great extent shattered by first the financial crisis and then an immigration crisis. The re-emergence of nationalism as a threat to the European Dream means that an alternative vision of Europe has emerged. However, in addition to national identification, regional identification at a sub-national level appears to have grown. This contribution is going to discuss the examples of Russians in Latvia and Scottish regions to exemplify these trends. However, these identities have not necessarily displaced either national or European attachment, as analysis of the Eurobarometer illustrates. Rather, we could point to an increasing sense of the importance of place in people’s sense of belonging, which seems to encompass all geographical scales.