European Nationalities Research Articles

Secure in Diversity? Transborder Ethnicity, Transnational Minority Activism, and Ontological (In)Security in the European Union

Abstract The liberal vision of the early 1990s envisaged the eastward extension of the Western European security community formed during the Cold War, based on intergovernmental cooperation and integration around the shared norms embodied by the European Union (EU), Council of Europe, and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Yet, transborder ethnic ties have remained a security concern within the “New Europe.” As well as the external challenges posed by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, growing transborder nationalism exhibited by Hungary and other states has also become a focus of tensions within the EU. These intra-EU concerns, I argue, should be understood primarily as an issue of ontological security and as part of a multilevel security dilemma implicating states, EU institutions, and national minorities as security-seeking non-state actors. The article focuses on the Federal Union of European Nationalities—a transnational umbrella NGO that in 2013–2021 led an unsuccessful European Citizens’ Initiative named “Minority SafePack” (MSPI) calling upon the European Commission to legislate on firmer guarantees of minority rights within EU member states. Applying the ontological security lens to the study of MSPI, I illustrate how it reflects specific claims voiced by transborder kin-minority activists consistently over the past century, before analyzing the counter-securitizing arguments deployed against it by states. Although MSPI was approved with a large majority within the European Parliament, the Commission ultimately rejected it. I consider why this was the case, as well as the implications of the rejection for the in varietate concordia concept that supposedly undergirds the European project.

Risk factors of suicide in prisons: a comprehensive retrospective cohort study in France, 2017-2020.

Suicide is a leading cause of death in prison and the suicide rates are several times higher in the prison population than in the general population in most countries. Of the studies that have investigated risk factors for suicide in prison, few have controlled for possible confounding factors. The aim of this study is to identify risk factors of suicide among people in French prisons, over a four-year period. All incarcerations that occurred in France during 2017-2020 were eligible. Sociodemographic, criminal and prison characteristics were collected for each incarceration from data of the National Prison Service. Survival univariate and multivariate analyses were performed with a Cox regression model. 358,522 incarcerations were included, of which 449 ended in suicide during the follow-up. The median length of prison stay was 5.1months. The median age at prison entry was 30years and 95.8% of incarcerations involved men. The overall suicide rate was 173 [157-189] per 100,000 person-years. Factors associated with suicide in the multivariate model (p<0.05) were the early stage of incarceration and in particular the first week (HR = 7.6 [5.4-10.8]), violent offences and in particular homicide (HR = 3.0 [2.1-4.2]), French (HR = 1.7 [1.2-2.4]) and other European nationalities (HR = 2.1 [1.4-3.3]), age above 40 (HR = 2.0 [1.5-2.6]), pre-trial incarceration (HR = 1.8 [1.4-2.3]), being separated (HR = 1.6 [1.1-2.3] and having a high school diploma (HR = 1.4 [1.0-1.8]). Factors associated with suicide in prison are complex and involve individuals' criminal history as well as conditions of incarceration. These characteristics may be relevant to focus suicide prevention efforts.

Economic Insights to Optimize Chain of Survival in Emergency Response

Background: Since economics is a social science studying individuals&amp;apos; behavior, it is plausible to employ its relevant concepts to study human behavior in the immediate response of lay citizens towards emergency incidents. In this context, economics has identified three types of policy lags in fiscal decisions that are of great interest to our study: recognition lag, decision lag, and implementation lag. Objectives: This study aims to apply the three policy lags in economics to the concept of ‘chain of survival&amp;apos; (CoS), in the hope of enticing rethinking its first link, and to seek solutions for CoS&amp;apos;s optimal activation. Methods: This cross-sectional study explores immediate responses to prehospital emergencies through a global online survey in four languages. It assesses how lay citizens recognize medical emergencies and activate the EMS system. Data is analyzed with SPSS v26 while summarizing qualitative variables via frequencies and percentages. Results: A total of 239 respondents were recruited in the survey from multiple countries. About 32% of the sample had recognition lag 95% CI of [26.3%, 38.2%]. Lower recognition lag scores were significantly associated with male gender, residing in Europe and Oceania, European and North American nationalities, and first aid training in last 5-10 years. Around 70% of our sample had decision lag 95% CI of [63.6%, 75.3%]. The most statistically significant factor contributing to successful decision to calling for an ambulance was prior first aid training. The average implementation lag score was 46%, which was defined as five minutes delay in calling for an ambulance or more. Conclusion: Applying concise terminology to the CoS&amp;apos;s first link (i.e. calling EMS) reveals behavioral constrains to an effective and timely activation of the CoS. These findings clarify immediate behaviors at times of emergencies, and inform targeted awareness programs addressing behavioral elements for a successful activation of the EMS system.

This is not US: measuring polarization in multiparty systems. A quasi-replication study

In the last decade, affective polarization (AP) has become an increasingly salient topic in both public discourse and political science. Several different measurement instruments have been developed to empirically capture this phenomenon. With the rising interest that affective polarization is now also enjoying in Europe, it has become of the utmost importance to assess what these different measures capture, and to what extent their application travels to different contexts. In this study we test several AP measures on a student population with various European nationalities. We assess their overlap and effectiveness in mapping AP, to help future research working towards greater empirical clarity, and making informed choices on which kind of measures to include in questionnaires and data collections. The results indicate that, while different items usually produce different point estimates and sometimes different answer patterns, the measurement of affective polarization appears relatively indifferent to the choice of items.

Cognitive colonialism: Nationality bias in Brazilian academic philosophy

AbstractThis paper presents the results of an experiment designed to test for nationality bias among members of the Brazilian philosophical community. Faculty members and postgraduate students from philosophy departments at seven Brazilian universities evaluated texts attributed to authors of European and Latin American nationalities. Results showed a clear preference for French nationality over Brazilian. They were inconclusive, however, when contrasting other Latin American nationalities with European nationalities, which likely relates to the academic background of the participants. These overall results support the claim that Brazilian academic philosophers are highly critical of Brazilians who produce theories of their own. The paper calls on philosophers to carefully consider the ways in which Eurocentrism impacts their very ability to reason.

Holiday travel intention in a crisis scenario: a comparative analysis of Spain's main source markets

ObjetivoEste estudio propone una extensión del modelo de la teoría del comportamiento planificado (TPB) para comprender las intenciones de visitar España de los viajeros internacionales. El objetivo es comparar si las variables que predicen la intención de viajar difieren según la nacionalidad. Esta extensión del modelo incluye variables como: riesgo percibido, lealtad al destino, experiencia de viaje anterior, clima de la opinión pública y el boca a boca electrónico (eWOM).Diseño/metodología/enfoqueSe desarrolló un modelo de indicadores y causas múltiples (MIMIC) como modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para predecir la intención de viajar de los 1978 participantes. El modelo estructural se utilizó para comprobar el modelo teórico para la muestra total y por nacionalidades (alemanes, británicos y otros países europeos).RecomendacionesLos modelos ampliados propuestos se ajustaron bien a los datos, explicando entre el 64% y el 68% de la varianza total, si bien se encontraron diferencias en función de la nacionalidad del turista. El modelo MIMIC indicó que la intención de los alemanes de viajar a un destino de vacaciones estaba influenciada por su percepción de riesgo, el eWOM y la lealtad a España. En el grupo británico, solo las variables TPB resultaron relevantes. Para el grupo de otras nacionalidades europeas, la lealtad y el eWOM también fueron significativas. Sin embargo, la experiencia de viaje, utilizada en estudios previos, se mostró no significativa en todos los grupos. En general, estos resultados ofrecen información sobre cómo las personas de diversos países y culturas adoptan los constructos antes mencionados cuando toman decisiones de viaje.Originalidad/valorEstudios previos han aplicado varios TPB extendidos a un país específico o han comparado los resultados entre países asiáticos. Nuestra propuesta hace una comparación de las variables utilizadas para predecir la intención de visitar un destino vacacional entre países europeos.

Translanguaging and product-oriented drama: an integrated pedagogical approach for language learning and literacy development

ABSTRACT This study investigated the translanguaging practices of 12 students and a teacher rehearsing a German play as part of an extra-curricular UK university theatre group comprising different European nationalities. Our aim was to understand how these practices support foreign language and literacy development in the context of a script-based, product-oriented approach to drama. The final three full rehearsals were audio-recorded and transcribed. Following functional analysis to identify translanguaging instances, discourse analysis was applied to selected extracts where learning was inferred or shown to occur. Rehearsals provided a rich learning environment in which participants were affectively engaged, with specific opportunities for contextualised language learning and literacy development. Translanguaging enhanced these learning opportunities, enabling students to engage with the German script as bilinguals drawing on both their linguistic and multimodal repertoires to build meaning. The integration of translanguaging and product-oriented drama offers a linguistically diverse and embodied pedagogical approach to language education and a wealth of learning affordances less readily accessed in monolingual environments.

Home‐rule versus non‐territorial autonomy? Western European national movements and their views on the minority question, 1919–1939

AbstractThe leading elites of the ethnonationalist movements that developed in the aftermath of World War I in Western Europe usually refused to see their nations and territories as ‘national minorities’. In their view, they were stateless nations or nationalities. However, in the aftermath of World War I, the prior international discussion on the nationality principle was increasingly replaced with the notion of ‘minority rights’, enhanced by the implementation of the Minorities Treaties by the League of Nations. Thus, the term ‘national minority’ emerged as a label that permitted ethnonationalist activist to present their claims on the international stage. This became evident in the participation of some Western European national movements in the activities of some transnational non‐governmental organisations, such as the Congress of European Nationalities (1925–1939). However, the general programme advocated by the most influential leaders of East‐Central ethnic minorities, based on the extension of the personal principle and the implementation of non‐territorial autonomy all over Europe, was hard to accept for ethnonationalist elites from Western Europe, which were interested in territorial home‐rule and believed that their homelands did not fit in the category of ‘minority’. This article explores the modalities and limits of that cultural and political dialogue.

Оцінка поширеності й аналіз основних чинників ризику цукрового діабету 2-го типу серед мешканців м. Актобе і Актюбінської області (Республіка Казахстан)

Актуальність. У виникненні і прогресуванні хронічних неінфекційних захворювань велику роль відіграють чинники ризику, що є спільними для багатьох захворювань. При одночасній дії вони потенціюють вплив один одного, тим самим різко підвищуючи ризик розвитку захворювання. Найважливішими особливостями цукрового діабету (ЦД) є висока частота серцево-судинних ускладнень, високий рівень смертності, а також вартість лікування декомпенсованих хворих. Актуальним і пріоритетним завданням системи охорони здоров’я на сьогодні залишаються розробка і впровадження сучасної системи епідеміологічного моніторингу основних хронічних неінфекційних захворювань, у тому числі ЦД 2-го типу. Мета дослідження: оцінити епідеміологічну ситуацію з основних чинників ризику розвитку ЦД 2-го типу на основі одномоментного (крос-секційного) дослідження населення м. Актобе й Актюбінської області Казахстану. Матеріали та методи. Матеріалом для проведення дослідження слугували особи віком 18–69 років (загальна кількість обстежених — 1515, середній вік — 45,9 ± 13,6 року), які мешкають у м. Актобе і Актюбінській області. Дослідження було проведене в три етапи: інтерв’ювання респондентів, фізикальні вимірювання і лабораторні дослідження. Результати. Під час дослідження по м. Актобе і Актюбінській області встановлено 5,6 % випадків уперше виявленого ЦД 2-го типу. При цьому більша поширеність ЦД відзначалася серед міських жителів — 6,1 % (45 осіб), ніж у селі — 4,9 % (28 осіб), поширеність серед чоловіків становила 6,9 % (20 осіб), серед жінок — 5,3 % (53 особи). Аналіз за національною ознакою виявив вірогідне переважання ЦД серед осіб російської національності (17,5 %) порівняно з казахами (9,2 %, р &lt; 0,01), але при цьому порівняння поширеності ЦД серед росіян з особами іншої азіатської (18,7 %, р &gt; 0,05) й іншої європейської національності (14,9 %, р &gt; 0,05) вірогідних відмінностей не виявило. Наступний немодифікований чинник розвитку ЦД 2-го типу — вік, у групі понад 45 років ризик розвитку ЦД 2-го типу збільшується. Серед респондентів м. Актобе і Актюбінської області співвідношення шансів становило 1 : 7 (OR = 7,114), тобто у віковій групі понад 45 років ризик розвитку ЦД 2-го типу збільшується в 7 разів. При аналізі анкет виявлено, що 250 респондентів вказали на родичів першого ступеня спорідненості, хворих на ЦД, при цьому діабет розвинувся в 13,2 % (33 особи). Інші 1265 осіб не мали обтяженої спадковості за ЦД, і діабет серед них становив 9 % (114). Співвідношення шансів становило 1 : 1,5 (OR = 1,535), р &lt; 0,05. Практично 90 % осіб із ЦД мають надмірну масу тіла або ожиріння різного ступеня. За результатами опитування виявлено, що респонденти з ЦД порівняно з респондентами без нього страждають від артеріальної гіпертензії в 5 разів частіше, ішемічної хвороби серця — більше ніж у 6 разів, інфаркт міокарда і хронічна серцева недостатність трапляються в них більше ніж у 6 разів частіше, аритмії різної етіології — в 4 рази, інсульт — вдвічі. Висновки. Аналіз чинників ризику розвитку ЦД 2-го типу в досліджуваній популяції підтвердив вплив таких абсолютних чинників, як раса, вік і спадкова схильність. Істотний внесок у розвиток хвороби також роблять такі відносні або модифіковані чинники, як ожиріння, рівень глюкози, холестерину і супутня серцево-судинна патологія.

Cross-Border Interactions and European Identity

Abstract This article examines what types of cross-border interactions promote a stronger sense of European identity than national identity. Firstly, using data from the Eurobarometer survey a typology of cross-border practices is constructed and associated with different levels of European identity. Secondly, a qualitative study evaluates the life course of 36 individuals involved in a European binational relationship. Both interactions within and outside Europe are assessed. The findings show that three types of interactions might promote a strong identification as European: Intra-European integrative interactions, involving a certain level of integration into the host society (in economic, educational and social systems) and associated with long-term stays; Multicultural interactions, involving a setting of shared activities and cooperation between individuals of several European nationalities; and Outside Europe interactions, that put Europe at perspective between the “we” and the “others”. On the other hand, the effect of Non-Integrative (sojourns) and short-term stays might be negligible.

The Dilemma of Dual Loyalty. Werner Hasselblatt and the Rise and Failure of Baltic German Minority Politics in the Inter-War Period

German minority politics in the Baltic states during the inter-war period has regained significant scholarly attention since the 1990s, when the Estonian concept of cultural autonomy from 1925 was rediscovered as a strategy for solving post 1989 minority conflicts as well as addressing issues of multiculturality. The case of the Baltic German politician Werner Hasselblatt, who is in the focus of this text, however, reveals a Janus-faced political approach: On the one hand, he had a significant share in the implementation of the law on cultural autonomy in Estonia, and he was also a major actor within the Congress of European Nationalities. On the other hand, from 1933 onwards Hasselblatt turned into an expert of Nazi resettlement and population politics, contrary to his earlier positions. Here, a critical analysis of his approach towards loyalty is undertaken, in order to discuss the tilting point in his political activities. My argument is that his attitude towards loyalty was based on the assumption of an irreconcilable conflict of dual loyalty to the ‘host’ state and the ‘kin’ nation. Whereas Hasselblatt regarded loyalty to German Volkstum not as a matter of individual choice for Baltic Germans and thus as not negotiable, he saw loyalty towards the Estonian state as connected to the fulfilment of the German minority’s political claims. Such an instrumental approach towards loyalty together with Hasselblatt’s primordial understanding of nationality in contrast to citizenship may be identified as crucial issues that led his concept of constructive minority politics tilt towards the destructive notion of ‘dissimilation’.

Association between Migrant Women's Legal Status and Prenatal Care Utilization in the PreCARE Cohort.

Barriers to access to prenatal care may partially explain the higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes among migrants compared with native-born women in Europe. Our aim was to assess the association between women’s legal status and inadequate prenatal care utilization (PCU) in France, where access to healthcare is supposed to be universal. The study population was extracted from the PreCARE prospective cohort (N = 10,419). The associations between women’s legal status and a composite outcome variable of inadequate PCU were assessed with multivariate logistic regressions. The proportion of women born in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was higher among the undocumented than that of other migrants. All groups of migrant women had a higher risk of inadequate PCU (31.6% for legal migrants with European nationalities, 40.3% for other legal migrants, and 52.0% for undocumented migrants) than French-born women (26.4%). The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for inadequate PCU for undocumented migrants compared with that for French-born women was 2.58 (95% confidence interval 2.16–3.07) overall, and this association was similar for migrant women born in SSA (aOR 2.95, 2.28–3.82) and those born elsewhere (aOR 2.37, 1.89–2.97). Regardless of the maternal place of birth, undocumented migrant status is associated with a higher risk of inadequate PCU.

Gustaaf Schamelhout en het Joegoslavische nationaliteitenvraagstuk. Vlaamse bespiegelingen

Dr Gustaaf Schamelhout – a French-speaking Fleming who, after having read De Leeuw van Vlaanderen, embraced his Flemish identity and developed a fascination for the question of nationality – published in 1930 an extensive three-volume study entitled De Volkeren van Europa en de strijd der nationaliteiten (The nations of Europe and the struggle of nationalities). In this solid, well-founded work, Schamelhout examines the friction points between European nationalities and attempts to present solutions for their peaceful coexistence. The tenth anniversary of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes offers him the opportunity to analyse thoroughly this multifaceted state, to demonstrate its weaknesses and to propose solutions. His motivation is a personal one: every nationality problem leads to comparisons and offers him a parallel to the situation in Belgium. After all, the position of the Flemings within the Belgian state has been the starting point of his scientific interest. The benevolent optimism that Schamelhout displayed towards the future of Yugoslavia was put to shame by its violent collapse. Whether his recipe of far-reaching federalisation will prove successful in the case of Belgium remains to be seen.

Negotiating National Character: The Habsburgs' Roman Catholic Priest College Santa Maria dell'Anima and the German National Church in Rome, 1859–1915

For centuries, what is today the Pontifical Institute Santa Maria dell'Anima, founded in Rome during the Holy Roman Empire (of the German nation), was known as the German National Institute or National Church. The article questions the attribute ‘German’ and investigates alternative identities, especially in the context of the Habsburg Empire. Both beneficiaries and benefactors were of various European nationalities, the priests who lived in the college as well as external members of the German and Austrian colony who met there regularly. The example of the Anima demonstrates how many ‘national’ institutes in the nineteenth century were not as homogeneous as they liked to present themselves; an institution's character was determined, not so much by historiography and political debate, but rather by the origins and convictions of the people who participated in it.

The echo of the Holodomor

News about the famine of 1932/33 that raged in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and southern Russia, was suppressed by the Soviet government, which banned the publication of any information about the catastrophe and denied its existence. An analysis of the contemporary press in Austria reveals that despite this, the general public did have access to broad information about the famine, which was even reported in local newspapers. The Secretary General of the “Congress of European Nationalities”, Ewald Ammende, and Cardinal Innitzer, played an important role in the dissemination of information. Cardinal Innitzer’s authority gave greater credibility to the news of the famine.

Prevalence of non-communicable diseases by age, gender and nationality in publicly funded primary care settings in Qatar

BackgroundIn Qatar, as with other countries, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been the leading cause of death. This study aims to describe the prevalence of four NCDs clusters (cardiovascular diseases (coronary...

¿Autodeterminación o autonomía cultural? Debates ideológicos en el Congreso de Nacionalidades Europeas (1925-1939)

Tras el establecimiento de los Tratados de Minorías en la Conferencia de Paz de Versalles (1919) y la articulación de un sistema de protección de las minorías nacionales europeas en el seno de la Sociedad de las Naciones, los representantes políticos e intelectuales de varias minorías de Europa Centro-Oriental convergieron a partir de 1925 en una organización de coordinación de sus iniciativas y que pretendía convertirse en su intermediario ante la Sociedad de las Naciones, el Congreso de Nacionalidades Europeas (CNE). En sus congresos anuales, celebrados hasta 1938, y sus publicaciones e informes, el CNE se convirtió en un foro de discusión acerca de las posibles soluciones de la cuestión de las minorías nacionales en la Europa de entreguerras, y para ello articuló un programa común que hacía hincapié en la necesidad de separar los conceptos de Nación y Estado, y asimismo de diferenciar la esfera de la política de la esfera cultural, a fin de permitir la convivencia de diferentes grupos étnicos dentro de un mismo Estado mediante una aplicación generalizada de la fórmula de la autonomía cultural. La autonomía cultural obedecía a su vez a varias tradiciones de pensamiento político presentes en Europa Centro-Oriental desde finales del siglo XIX—desde las propuestas de la socialdemocracia austríaca hasta las formas de organización corporativa autónoma de las minorías germanas en el Báltico—, pero su plasmación en la Ley de Minorías estonia de 1925 la convirtió en fórmula exportable a otros países. No obstante, dentro del CNE se fueron dibujando con claridad dos modos diferentes de enfocar la cuestión de las minorías, que se personalizan en las propuestas de Paul Schiemann y de Werner Hasselblatt.

The significance of things: Objects, emotions and cultural production in migrant women’s return visits home

This article draws on qualitative research in Basel, Switzerland with highly skilled migrant women from various European nationalities employed in a number of professional sectors. It seeks to contribute to the literatures on the sociologies of migration and the sociologies of everyday life by intersecting the conceptual frame of ‘affective habitus’ with the phenomenology of material culture in unpacking how emotions triggered by objects shape settling practices in host societies. The analysis centres on pathways of cultural production as they unfold through memories, objects and experiential return visits. The authors find sociological depth in applying ‘affective habitus’ as the conceptual framing to examine how mediations of memory and emotions can extend understandings of how women migrants create agentic ways to settle in new host societies while making cultural accommodations. The conceptual terrain of ‘affective habitus’ is theorised through a phenomenological approach to gendered migrancy and cultural materiality in everyday life.

The Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours of European Golf Tourists

Environmental attitudes and behaviours have received relatively little attention in golf tourism, compared to other tourism research areas. Golf tourism provides products and services based on nature, and they should focus on the environment. Golf has become increasingly important in the development of European tourism within the last decade. Moreover, golf is one of the primary motivations for European tourists in the sports tourism sector. This study is based on a sample of 431 golf tourists, from different nationalities, who visit Andalusia, Spain. This research examines the relationship between environmental attitudes and behavioural intentions for three subsamples of European nationalities: British, German, and Spanish. This relationship was corroborated in the three subsamples. However, the national citizenship of European golf tourists was not a moderator effect on the relationship between environmental attitudes and behavioural intentions.

‘Forgotten Europeans’: transnational minority activism in the age of European integration

AbstractThis article examines transnational activism by coalitions of national minorities in Europe from the early 20th century to the present, setting this within the broader ‘security versus democracy dilemma’ that continues to surround international discussions on minority rights. Specifically, we analyse two organisations – the European Nationalities Congress (1925–1938) and the Federal Union of European Nationalities (1949–) – which, while linked, have never been subject to a detailed comparison based on primary sources. In so far as comparisons do exist, they present these bodies in highly negative terms, as mere fronts for inherently particularistic nationalisms that threaten political stability, state integrity and peace. Our more in‐depth analysis provides a fresh and more nuanced perspective: it shows that, in both cases, concepts of European integration and ‘unity in diversity’ have provided the motivating goals and frameworks for transnational movements advocating common rights for all minorities and seeking positive interaction with the interstate world.