Abstract
This paper reports the framework, method and main findings of an analysis of cultural milieus in 4 European countries (Estonia, Greece, Italy, and UK). The analysis is based on a questionnaire applied to a sample built through a two-step procedure of post-hoc random selection from a broader dataset based on an online survey. Responses to the questionnaire were subjected to multidimensional analysis–a combination of Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. We identified 5 symbolic universes, that correspond to basic, embodied, affect-laden, generalized worldviews. People in this study see the world as either a) an ordered universe; b) a matter of interpersonal bond; c) a caring society; d) consisting of a niche of belongingness; e) a hostile place (others’ world). These symbolic universes were also interpreted as semiotic capital: they reflect the capacity of a place to foster social and civic development. Moreover, the distribution of the symbolic universes, and therefore social and civic engagement, is demonstrated to be variable across the 4 countries in the analysis. Finally, we develop a retrospective reconstruction of the distribution of symbolic universes as well as the interplay between their current state and past, present and future socio-institutional scenarios.
Highlights
The countries of the European Union are currently experiencing deep socio-political turbulence that undermines social cohesion as well as national and European institutions
We tested the stability of the main results by means of a bootstrapping-like procedure–i.e., we compared the output of the same procedure of multidimensional analysis applied on 10 control samples, designed to be equivalent to Sample 1
Cluster Analysis used the factorial dimensions extracted by the Multiple Correspondence Analysis as similarity criteria
Summary
The countries of the European Union are currently experiencing deep socio-political turbulence that undermines social cohesion as well as national and European institutions This dynamic manifests itself in different forms–such as fragmentation of social cohesion, ideological and religious radicalization, rise of ultra-right parties, waves of xenophobia and populism, decreased solidarity and partnership among European countries, and political paralysis of European governance. These processes share a commonality: the dramatic radicalization of intergroup conflicts. More people feel that the community they belong to is threatened by turmoil generated by an external enemy. What remains constant is the affect-laden experience of feeling “under the attack from a threatening other”
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