Europeans’ perspectives on the cultural impacts of globalisation and migration

Extensive literature has focused on the effects of measurable processes of globalisation on various facets of everyday life, including the cultural sphere. However, relatively few studies examined how individuals perceive the impact of globalisation and migration on their cultural lifestyles, participation, and preferences. This chapter delves into this underexplored area by employing theories of cosmopolitanism, transnationalism, and cultural stratification to understand how people perceive the effects of cultural globalisation, including Europeanisation and increased migration flows. It examines how individuals perceive the impact of these changes on various aspects of everyday culture and whether they assess these changes as cultural enrichment or threat. The analysis draws on qualitative data from 84 in-depth interviews conducted in four European countries with both native-born citizens and migrants. The findings provide new insights into people’s perceptions of how globalisation and migration have changed cultural offerings and culture life more broadly, their openness to these developments, and how these perceptions and attitudes are associated – also by interviewees themselves – with various social backgrounds, transnational and migration experiences, and the degree of cultural diversity in people’s environments.