World Citizens on the Periphery: Threat and Identification with Global Society

Who identifies as a world citizen? Many scholars argue that transnational connections are the primary conduits for global cultural diffusion and, therefore, that affluent residents of the densely connected global core should be the most likely to identify with global society. However, empirical studies have shown that global identification is common on the global periphery. The authors build on theories suggesting that individuals may emphasize expansive identities when particularistic identities fail to provide a sense of security in the face of threat. They argue that members of peripheral and marginalized groups express greater global identification because of the threat inherent in their precarious social positions. The authors show that (1) global identification is more common among residents of weaker and more repressive states, (2) members of repressed minority groups are more likely to identify with global society than conationals with collective access to state power, and (3) many residents of one weak state—Lebanon—expressed greater enthusiasm for global connection immediately following a terrorist attack.