Have European citizens become increasingly Eurosceptic over the last two
decades, turning their backs on European integration? Though many journalists,
politicians and academics argue that they have, this book suggests that
reactions to European integration cannot be reduced uniquely to a rise in
Euroscepticism, but that indifference and ambivalence need also to be brought
into the picture when studying EU legitimacy and its politicisation.
Drawing on new evidence from survey data from eight founding member
states, and focus groups conducted in francophone Belgium, France and Great
Britain, Integrating Indifference explores the various faces of citizens’
indifference, from fatalism, to detachment, via sheer indecision.
This
book adopts a pioneering mixed-methods approach to analysing the
middle-of-the-road attitudes of ordinary citizens who consider themselves
neither Europhiles nor Eurosceptics. Complementing existing quantitative and
qualitative literature in the field, it opens up new perspectives on attitudes
towards European integration.