Contested Britain: Brexit, Austerity and Agency

✍ Scribed by Marius Guderjan (editor); Hugh Mackay (editor); Gesa Stedman (editor)

• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 266
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

A distinctive and original analysis of how the politics of the UK and the lives of British citizens have evolved in the first decades of the twenty-first century, this book provides an interdisciplinary critical examination of the roots, ideology and consequences of austerity politics, the Brexit vote and the rise of populist politics in Britain. Bringing together case studies and perspectives from an array of international researchers across the social sciences, it dissects the ways that the UK has become increasingly contested with profound differences of geography, generation, gender, ‘race’ and class, and considers agency as a key concept to understand the links between austerity and Brexit.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Cover
Contested Britain: Brexit, Austerity and Agenccy
Copyright information
Table of contents
List of Tables
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The origins of Euroscepticism and Brexit
Austerity politics, discourse and ideology
‘Acting otherwise’? Agency and agents
The EU referendum, austerity and agency
The prospects of Brexit
Structure of the book
References
Part I The Politics and Culture of Austerity: Impacts and Resistance
1 The Contracting State: Austerity and Public Services
Introduction
Austerity in the contracting state
Education and austerity
Health and austerity
Welfare under austerity
Conclusion
References
2 Breaking Britain’s Working Class: the Left Out
Introduction
Breaking Britain’s working class
Ethnographic tales of value and resistance
Bethnal Green
St Ann’s in Nottingham
The working class and the EU referendum: left out not left behind
The working class breaking the political consensus?
Conclusion
References
3 Political Activism and Agency under Austerity and Brexit
Introduction
Understanding the contours of Austerity Britain
Austerity and agency in Brexit Britain
Findings
Gender
Geography
Social class
Attitudes to the EU
Conclusion
References
4 Culture Matters: Cuts and Resistance
Introduction
Financial sources for cultural activities in the UK
Combatants in the conflict about culture
The Conservative actors, their view of the state and their agenda for cultural policy
Excursus: the ‘creative industries’
The agents of resistance and their political and cultural motivations
The attitudes and position of Labour
Civil agents of resistance and their motivations
The facts: exemplary sectors hit by the cuts and counter measures
National institutions
Regional institutions: museums, theatres, libraries, youth clubs, schools
Assessment and outlook
References
5 Agents and Agency in the Face of Austerity and Brexit Uncertainty: the Case of Legal Aid
Introduction
Legal aid, its reform and a system in crisis
Agency and the agents: lawyers and citizens
Agency
Lawyers
Citizens
Conclusion
References
Part II The Politics and Discourse of Brexit
6 The Economy of Brexit: Performance, Interests and Agency
Introduction
State and capital
Agriculture, financial services and manufacturing
Agriculture
Financial services
Manufacturing goods
Agency and praxis in business
Working-class agency in Brexit Britain
Conclusion
References
7 Brexit Populism: Disenfranchisement and Agency
Introduction
Agency and disenfranchisement
Economic disenfranchisement
Political disenfranchisement
Cultural disenfranchisement
Agency and populism
Populism as a ‘thick’ ideology
Populism as a ‘thin’ ideology
Brexit populism and the irony of agency
Conclusion
References
8 A Sovereign People? Political Fantasy and Governmental Time in the Pursuit of Brexit
A sovereign people?
Imagining agency: ‘Take back control’
Making Brexit mean Brexit? Time, space and sovereignty
Beyond fantasy: collective agency and the problem of politics
Acknowledgements
References
9 ‘Not an International Health Service’: Xenophobia, Brexit and the Restoration of National Sovereignty
The hostile environment and the securitization of the welfare state
The problem of ‘health tourism’
Neoliberalization, austerity and securitization
‘Not an international health service’: the welfare state and the Brexit vote
Conclusion
References
10 ‘Uni-Culti’ Myths and Liberal Dreams: Brexit and Austerity from the Perspective of Migrants
Introduction
Austerity, Brexit and migrants
‘Uni-Culti’: Polish migrants’ perceptions of Britain and Brexit
The welfare state and austerity measures in the eyes of Poles in England
Neoliberal dreams: adolescence in turbo capitalism
Conclusion
References
Part III Austerity and Brexit in a Divided Union
11 From Brexit to the Break-Up of ... England? Thinking in and Beyond the Nation
Introduction
Looking at the patterns
Looking out through the lens of London
Disunited England, divided London?
From European Union to Disunited Kingdom?
References
12 Understanding Brexit in Wales: Austerity, Elites and National Identity
Who voted Leave in Wales?
Wales’s political elite and egalitarian culture
Welsh identity and language
Conclusion
References
13 Scotland, Brexit and the Broken Promise of Democracy
Introduction
Thatcherism in Scotland
The role of Europe in the Scottish constitutional debate
Devolution: Scotland as a European region
Independence in Europe
The Brexit referendum: a tale of two campaigns
Delivering Brexit: challenges and opportunities
Conclusion
References
14 Brexit, Devolution and Northern Ireland’s Political Parties: Differential Solutions, Special Status or Special Arrangements?
Introduction
Response to the referendum
Sidelining Scotland and Wales
Political response in Northern Ireland
The border and special arrangements for Northern Ireland
Conclusion
References
15 More Than the Border? Looking at Brexit through Irish Eyes
Introduction
The ties that bind
The ties that liberate
‘Ireland is a European nation now...’1
‘Supported by ... gallant allies in Europe’?
Conclusion
Note
References
Conclusion
Introduction
Three phases of Brexit
Brexit, austerity and agency revisited
Restoring agency under the legacy of austerity and Brexit?
Conclusion
References
Index
Back Cover