Race, nation, empire? Historicising outward and inward-facing British nationalism

Bibliographic Data

ID4444632
AuthorsJames Foley (0000-0002-2105-6850, Glasgow Caledonian University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume39
Issue4
Pages539-561
Publication date2023-08-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-1178 • E-ISSN: 1741-2862
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00471178231196073
OpenAlexW4386289562
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited49

Brexit has continued to capture the attention of International Relations (IR) scholars, where it has been linked to the burgeoning debate on race and postcolonialism. This article adds to this scholarship by historicising the question of imperial nostalgia, which has been central to these intersecting literatures. It re-examines how influential theorists Hall and Gilroy linked the peculiarities of British national consciousness to traumas issuing from the loss of great power status. It emphasises two themes often lacking in recent accounts of Brexit nationalism: namely, the centrality of military mobilisation to national consciousness; and the unevenness between popular and elite sentiment with regards to the imperial dimension. In historicising themes of extroversion and introversion, it reconsiders the significant metamorphoses in post-Thatcherite British nationalism, which had centred on proclaiming a national renaissance founded in foreign policy successes, international moral leadership and a state-led consensus for rolling out globalisation worldwide. The research shows that revisionism about the British Empire played a significant role in foreign policy discourse across this period, as did pro-EU sentiment among the governing and ruling elite. It highlights the mechanisms which allowed UK foreign policy intellectuals to link the military roll-out of 'postmodern' social norms with the European project's end goals. These findings help historically situate Brexit amid a succession of crises for the liberal global order. The research finds that, whereas Brexit appeared initially as a retreat or break from the UK's post-Thatcherite 'globalising' nationalism, subsequent developments highlight significant continuities

Brexit · Elite · Empire · European union · Foreign policy · International relations · National consciousness · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Postcolonialism (international relations) · Scholarship · Sociology · Thatcherism · Gender Studies · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · State Capitalism and Financial Governance

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