UEFA Rather Than EU? (Dis)Enchantment and Identification with Europe among Young Working-Class People of Immigrant Origin

Being both remote and not thoroughly thought out, identification with Europe among young French people of immigrant origin in lower socioeconomic groups is conducive to ambivalence, swaying between enchantment and disenchantment. Our qualitative approach allows us to analyze narratives of a sense of belonging to Europe based on social experiences at the fringes of the political realm, which often draws on affect. For young French people of migrant origin, identification with a European political community is often linked to subscribing to a set of humanistic values for which football is the main vehicle. A degree of disenchantment is expressed when interviewees perceive religious beliefs (whether their own or those of their peers) as ostracized because of their incompatibility with dominant values. However, the possibility of re-enchantment suggests a combination of national and European identification rather than to a clash of cultures.