International organizations, national autonomy and cosmopolitan identity: How do international constraints on national autonomy shape national identity?

The question of what creates and sustains national political identities has been investigated from many angles. However, the question of how international constraints on national autonomy shape national identities is so far under-investigated. This paper uses the European sovereign debt crisis as a case for investigating whether externally imposed constraints on fiscal political autonomy, typically contested decisions, solidify or weaken national solidarity. Using data from 1983-2021, I find that the imposition of austerity led to a strengthening of national identities immediately after the austerity packages were agreed. This effect was strongest in Southern Europe, where austerity had the largest social impact and constituted the greatest break with pre-existing national policy preferences. I find evidence that the strengthening of exclusively national self-identification after the imposition of austerity was most likely driven by an increased perception of economic threat in the austerity countries, rather than shifting evaluations of EU membership.