From order to chaos. How the Brexit economic expert discourse articulates structural dissolution in times of Covid-19 crisis

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13124166
AutoresJens Maeße (London School of Economics and Political Science, autor de correspondencia), Thierry Rossier (0000-0003-3340-9091, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Año2022
Volumen7
Número1
Páginas68-99
Fecha de publicación2022-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCulture Practice & Europeanization (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2566-7742 • E-ISSN: 2566-7742
EditorialNomos (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.5771/2566-7742-2022-1-68
OpenAlexW4296755078
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas25

This paper analyses the transformation of identities and institutions of economic experts as politico-economic professionals brought about by the Brexit process between 2016 and 2020. In order to understand the transformation from order to chaos in times of COVID-19, a mixed methods approach is applied. In a first step, a discourse analysis of two competing letters from two different groups of economists is carried out. One letter was published by “Economists for Remain” before the Brexit referendum in 2016; the other letter was published by a group called “Economists for Free Trade”, arguing for leaving the EU. In a second step, we conduct a field and social space analysis of economists who signed the letters in order to analyse their social backgrounds and professional positions within the UK academic, media, political and economic system. The paper shows that members of both groups take significantly different positions. In a final step, we conducted interviews in 2019/20 with selected members of each group. Here we show how the professional system of UK economic governmentality enters a state of crisis. The paper finally argues that contemporary nationalist movements cannot provide a new social order. They lead societies into chaos instead

Brexit · Economics · European union · Governmentality · International trade · Nationalism · Order (exchange · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Referendum · Sociology · Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US