Identity Project under Construction: European Identity and Educational Mobility in the Case of Majka

Abstract

Earlier research on educational mobility as well as autobiographical data in the previous chapter show that the impact of international education on the formation of a supranational, European identity is not distinctively defined. In contrast to the national identity discourse, the European dimension of identity formation is still under construction and appears in unexpected places within biographies. It often takes the shape of tacit rather than explicit knowledge about Europe. Based on the analysis of one case — Majka — this chapter attempts to link the individual and social elements of transnational educational experience in order to understand the process of individual as well as collective identity formation and to reconsider them in the light of sociological theories. Firstly, the historical and cultural background of Majka’s interview will be presented. Secondly, the individual skills repertoire associated with international education will be discussed. Finally, the social mechanisms which shape an individual narrative embedded in European institutional frameworks will be explored.