Europe in love: binational couples and cosmopolitan society

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Introduction -- 2 When Willem Met Laura: Who Enters National and Binational Couples? -- 3 Sociability -- 4 Making a Living -- 5 Civil and Political Engagement -- 6 Taste and Cultural Practices -- 7 Identities -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1: Survey Methodology -- Appendix 2: In-Depth Interviews -- Appendix 3: Variables Used in the Statistical Analysis -- Index.

"Inter-marriage both reflects and brings social change. This book draws on a unique survey to randomly selected samples of national and European binational couples to demonstrate that the latter are core cells of a future European society. Unrestricted freedom of movement has enabled a rise in the number of lower-class and middle-class binational couples between Europeans. Euro-couples fully integrate in their host cities but secure less support in solving everyday problems than do national ones, partly because of a relatively small network of relatives living close-by. Embeddedness in a dense international network and a cosmopolitan outlook also distinguish them from national couples. The book challenges the view of cosmopolitanism as exclusively middle-class and highlights contrasts between lower-class and middle-class binational couples. Furthermore, it shows that social cosmopolitanism among binational couples is not matched by a commensurate weaker national identification that would enhance support to a more federal Europe. This book is primarily addressed to the general public interested in contemporary European society and to academics interested in inter-marriage. Since the chapters are quasi stand-alone pieces devoted to specific topics, it provides suitable reading material for social stratification, social networks, civil society, popular culture, and European integration undergraduate and graduate courses"--

"Inter-marriage both reflects and brings social change. This book draws on a unique survey to randomly selected samples of national and European binational couples to demonstrate that the latter are core cells of a future European society. Unrestricted freedom of movement has enabled a rise in the number of lower-class and middle-class binational couples between Europeans. Euro-couples fully integrate in their host cities but secure less support in solving everyday problems than do national ones, partly because of a relatively small network of relatives living close-by. Embeddedness in a dense international network and a cosmopolitan outlook also distinguish them from national couples. The book challenges the view of cosmopolitanism as exclusively middle-class and highlights contrasts between lower-class and middle-class binational couples. Furthermore, it shows that social cosmopolitanism among binational couples is not matched by a commensurate weaker national identification that would enhance support to a more federal Europe. This book is primarily addressed to the general public interested in contemporary European society and to academics interested in inter-marriage. Since the chapters are quasi stand-alone pieces devoted to specific topics, it provides suitable reading material for social stratification, social networks, civil society, popular culture, and European integration undergraduate and graduate courses"--