A new INVENT study by Valentina Petrović of the University of Zurich sheds new light on the social divides shaping attitudes towards the European Union across Europe.
The study examines how class and cultural capital influence support for the EU in nine European countries at a time when Euroscepticism has become increasingly visible in public debate. While earlier research has linked Euroscepticism mainly to the working class and small business owners, this research explores whether these patterns hold across different national contexts and how cultural resources shape political attitudes.
Using survey data and drawing on sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social space, the study maps occupational groups according to their levels of cultural and economic capital. The findings show clear class-based differences in attitudes towards the EU. Sociocultural professionals tend to express strong support for European integration, while production workers are more likely to hold Eurosceptic views.
The analysis also demonstrates that cultural capital plays a significant role in explaining EU attitudes, even in countries where scepticism towards the EU is relatively widespread, such as Serbia and Switzerland. According to the study, these results underline the importance of understanding how social class and cultural resources interact within different national contexts to shape political opinions about Europe.
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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement