This volume examines the impact of Brexit on political traditions such as nationalism, liberalism and conservatism, cosmopolitanism and decentralization. Bringing together scholars of British Politics, the chapters focus on the following topics: Brexit and the myth of British National identity since World War II; the evolution of discourses surrounding Brexit and the broader shifts in the character of British liberal and conservative traditions; how the phenomenon of Brexit has decentered the Labour Party’s ideational tradition; the expression of beliefs about Brexit and British foreign policy; the ‘identity effects’ of Brexit on unionism and nationalism in Northern Ireland; whether the UK require a more decentred local government at a community level in order for people to feel both represented, and able to participate.
Author(s): Mark Bevir, Matt Beech
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 106
City: Cham
Contents
1 Brexit and the Myth of British National Identity
Abstract
Introduction
National identities, histories, and traditions
Brexit, national identity, and decolonization
Political parties, intellectual traditions, and the crisis of liberal democracy
Conclusion: Decentering the Nation(s)
References
2 Political community and the new parochialism: Brexit and the reimagination of British liberalism and conservatism
Abstract
Reimaging Community: Brexit and the political reactivation of collectivist political traditions
The dilemmas of Brexit and the reconfiguration of British liberalism and conservatism
Conclusion: Brexit and the new parochialism
References
3 Brexit and the Labour Party: Europe, cosmopolitanism and the narrowing of traditions
Abstract
Introduction
Labour and the European project
Labour and the reimagining of the Euro-enthusiast tradition
Cosmopolitanism
Labour and the reimagining of the Euro-sceptic tradition
Conservatism
Conclusion
References
4 The dilemma of Brexit: hard choices in the narrow context of British foreign policy traditions
Abstract
Introduction
Interpretivism
Making sense of Brexit: academic commentary
The First EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate
Conclusion
References
5 Ironic inversions and stable purposes: reimagining political traditions in Ireland after the EU Referendum 2016
Abstract
Introduction
The conflict
The 1998 Agreement
The 2016 Referendum
Some ironical inversions of argument
New ideas and old purposes
Conclusions and the dilemma for political traditions
References
6 The deep story of Leave voters affective assemblages: implications for political decentralisation in the UK
Abstract
Introduction
English nationalism, British pluralist traditions, and the vote to leave the EU
The deep story of Leave voters assembled historical traditions
Research methods
Leave voters affective assemblages
The Leave ‘deep story’, inherited traditions, and devolution
Conclusion
References
