Brexitland: Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics
Cambridge University Press, 10/15/2020
EAN 9781108461900, ISBN10: 1108461905
Paperback, 410 pages, 21.6 x 14 x 2.6 cm
Language: English
Long-term social and demographic changes - and the conflicts they create - continue to transform British politics. In this accessible and authoritative book Sobolewska and Ford show how deep the roots of this polarisation and volatility run, drawing out decades of educational expansion and rising ethnic diversity as key drivers in the emergence of new divides within the British electorate over immigration, identity and diversity. They argue that choices made by political parties from the New Labour era onwards have mobilised these divisions into politics, first through conflicts over immigration, then through conflicts over the European Union, culminating in the 2016 EU referendum. Providing a comprehensive and far-reaching view of a country in turmoil, Brexitland explains how and why this happened, for students, researchers, and anyone who wants to better understand the remarkable political times in which we live.
1. Introduction
how Britain became Brexitland
2. Social change, ehnocentrism and the emergence of new identity divides
3. Divided over diversity
identity conservatives and identity liberals
4. Legacies of empire
Commonwealth immigration and the historical roots of identity politics divides
5. The long divorce
parties and voters parting ways
6. The identity conservative insurgency and the rise of UKIP
7
Change without recovery
how the coalition catalysed Labour's demographic transformation
8. Brexitland awakened
identity politics and the EU referendum
9. Dancing to a different tune
identity politics and political change in Scotland 2007–19
10. Brexitland after Brexit
the electoral fallout from the EU referendum
11. Conclusion
the new politics of Brexitland.