Impact of English Nationalism Upon the Brexit Referendum and it's After Effects
Impact of English Nationalism Upon the Brexit Referendum and it's After Effects
Aim: The aim of this dissertation is to find the underlying reasons as to why British nationalism has been affected, and the role the people of the UK played in causing the Brexit referendum. The causes and effects pertaining to the future will also be discussed in relation to the people and how English nationalism will affect them.
Research Background
Ethnic nationalism is rising in the West and is a significant characteristic of politics and liberal democracies. According to Schertzer & Woods (2022), the role of English nationalism in the campaign for Brexit was that it was built on the argument that Brexit was made in England. This implies that English voters, especially white English voters voted for the Leave side. An evolving approach in the study of nationalism often known as ethno symbolism emphasizes the role played by ethnic myths as well as symbols in the lasting influential power of nationalism. With the rise of immigration population in the UK, a stark contrast has been created with ethnic white British citizens and non white citizens which has caused a rift between patriotism and nationalism in the UK, which is important in understanding English nationalism. Gerald Newmans informative book, The Rise of English Nationalism: A Cultural History 1720-1820 (1987) provides interesting content behind the roots of English Nationalism and its history which in still relevant in today and will be relevant in writing this dissertation.
Gellner (1983) considered nationalism as the ideological equivalent of modernization, whereas Newman regarded nationalism as complicated and liberal as compared to pure patriotism. Newman regarded Patriotism as focused outward and believed that nationalism covers the entire affairs of the nation internally and externally (Newman 1987, 54). The nationalist movement is regarded conventionally as a reliant suspicion of a specific foreign rival (Newman 1987, 57). Kumar (2003) believed that English nationalism must be regarded as a typology of nationalism against British, Welsh, Northern Irish, and Scottish nationalism. Kumar (2003) believed that English nationalism must be part of a bigger whole with its boundaries extending to the very limits of the globe (Kumar 2003, 15). English nationalism arose in the late Victorian age out of the requirement to differentiate it from other types of nationalism which were stirring at the end of the nineteenth century and at the start of the twentieth century (Kumar, 2003, 200).
There is a need to evaluate the relationship between English nationalism and the Brexit referendum. So, the proposed research investigates the impact of English nationalism on the Brexit referendum and its aftereffects. It will also examine the economic and immigration factors that led to the outcomes of the Brexit referendum.
Research Objectives
The proposed research will investigate the following research objectives:
The proposed research will investigate the impact of English nationalism upon the Brexit referendum and its after effects.
It will explore the role of English nationalism in the campaign for Brexit.
It will carry out historical and comparative content analysis of ethnic nationalism in the United Kingdom.
I will investigate peoples relation to British nationalism and if it is indeed important to the British people
I will research on the important of British politics leading upto the Brexit referendum and how European skepticism has been seen as threat to British sovereignty
The effect of mainstream media and news and its cause and effect on the Brexit referendum and how it played a role in the referendum
Quantitive and Qualtitabie analysis will be researched based on hypothesis england nationalism upon the referendum and its after affects
Survey analysis will also be conducted to see how the average British citizen feels about English nationalism and what its means to them
Research Questions
The proposed research will address the following major research questions:
What is the impact of English nationalism upon the Brexit referendum and its aftereffects?
What is the role of English nationalism in the campaign for Brexit?
What is the historical and comparative content analysis of ethnic nationalism in the United Kingdom?
Is British nationalism important to the British people?
The relationship between Mainstream political parties and fringe parties in regards to Brexit and its agenda on English nationalism?
How does mainstream media and news cause and effect the Brexit referendum and how it played a role in the referendum?
Key Concepts
Important concepts which will be discussed in this work will include mainly through the meaning of nationalism. Concepts such as sovereignty, rights and freedom will be essential as to explaining why the Brexit Referendum took place in relation to the opinions of the people who left they were confined by the European union in terms of their authority which is another concept will be discussed. Concept such as power will be described when detailing the effect British politics and media had in dealing with the Brexit referendum. In particular soft power and smart power. Different political theories such as relaism and liberalism will be further discussed in other to show different political parties and people had such contrasting opinions on the subject in hand. People in favor of Brexit were portrayed as right wing whilst people against Brexit were portrayed as left wing. Such contrast in thought will be explained by such concepts. The strategy of these different political parties will be explained through these concepts and how the balance of power was dictated throught beaurcharcy and power.
Proposed Methodology
The first portion of this methodology will be based on answering the main research question to determine if English nationalism affected the voting preferences in the Brexit referendum.
The proposed research will comprise mixed methodology, that is; both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The qualitative research methodology will include a collection of data through primary as well as secondary sources. The primary source will comprise of a collection of data from 50 non-British people. Their opinions will be obtained through structured questionnaires. The secondary source will involve a review of articles, books, journals, reports, and authentic websites. The quantitative research will comprise of formulaic analysis of the data obtained from the primary source. The second portion of the methodology will be based on demographic around the UK and how different races in the UK has affected the opinions of what British nationalism means. I will also do methodology based on the effects of Brexit and how this will further affect English nationalism and collect opinion as to how migrant population will seek to cause change in English natonalism which may make Brexit possibly redundant. Another section will be made to explain both the qualitative research and qualitative research to further explain why this was conducted and its importance in the following research.
Literature Highlights
Some of the reviews related to the proposed topic are briefed below:
English nationalism is considered a nationalist ideology that depicts a dislike towards the political class and believes that English people are underrepresented and even absent in the constitutional as well as political framework of UK (Aughey, 2010). Newman (1987) considered it as the nationalist belief that depends on an idealized homogenous community of English people that fears and distrusts foreigners to its group consciousness and identity. Kenny (2014) considered it as a belief that idealizes England not only as bucolic but also as culturally Arcadian. (Wellings 2012) believed in the relationship between European integration and modern English nationalism.
Different identities and culture in the UK which has caused political parties such as Labour party and UKIP to feel threatened by their rights and sovereignty due to a large number of immigrants now occupying jobs. Hence, experts has suggested British nationalism to be a key component as to why Brexit happened. In this research, I will investigate why the media played an important role in shaping Brexit and reasons the average white English voter was seen in favor of Brexit in comparison to Europeans and other immigrants in favor of EU. The cause and effects will also be investigated in this research to mainly explain what the future of the UK will look like due to the effects of Brexit which include a nationalised economy and more equal opportunity to current UK citizens although in contrast England nationalism is still in risk due to the complications involved socially due to differents religions and cultures residing in the UK.
In this particular research i will be mainly focus on a more critical way of thinking through my writing rather than focusing on a more empirical way of research. In this particular research, I will mainly focus on the Brexit referendum, which was mainly driving by English nationalism and reason the meaning of English nationalism is changing due to mass immigration and the takeover of different cultures in the UK. I will also question the meaning of nationalism and if it it can be truly be relevant to the UK as it is an union and nationalism pertains to the loyalty and devotion of a nation. Through answering these particular question the use of key international relations concepts will be constantly used in my research. A particular perspective behind my research is the that the Brexit referendum was driven by the fact that different cultures and societies in the UK affected the classical meaning of English nationalism and has been made into an open ended topic. This will be further looked into by investigation through my methodlogy. The effect of media in this study will be further looked at by investigating how different newspapers and personalities conducted its opinion and insight as to who was in the right.
References
Gellner, E. (1983). Nations and Nationalism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Kenny, M. (2014). The Politics of English Nationhood. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kumar, K. (2003). The Making of English National Identity, Cambridge. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 15.
Newman, G. (1987). The Rise of English Nationalism: A Cultural History, 1720-1830. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 54-57.
Schertzer, R., & Woods, E. T. (2022). The New Nationalism in America and Beyond: The Deep Roots of Ethnic Nationalism in the Digital Age. Oxford University Press.
Vines, E. (2014). Reframing English Nationalism and Euroscepticism: From Populism to the British Political Tradition. British Politics, 9 (3), 255-274.
Wellings, B. (2012). English Nationalism and Euroscepticism: Losing the Peace. Oxford, GB: Peter Lang AG.
Newman, Gerald. 1987. The Rise of English Nationalism: A Cultural History, 1720-1830. New York: St. Martin's Press.
