Contested Britain
Brexit, Austerity and Agency
Edited by Marius Guderjan, Hugh Mackay and Gesa Stedman
Published
Mar 25, 2020Page count
264 pagesISBN
978-1529205022Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Mar 25, 2020Page count
264 pagesISBN
978-1529205008Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Mar 25, 2020Page count
264 pagesISBN
978-1529205039Imprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Mar 25, 2020Page count
264 pagesISBN
978-1529205039Imprint
Bristol University Press
Contested Britain
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.
"A timely and important contribution to our understanding of the complex entanglements between Brexit, austerity and politics in contemporary Britain. It contextualises these issues in relation to ongoing contestations around the UK itself, drawing on a wide-range of perspectives.” Gerry Mooney, The Open University in Scotland
Marius Guderjan is Lecturer and Researcher at the Centre for British Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
Hugh Mackay is Honorary Associate in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at The Open University, UK.
Gesa Stedman is Professor at the Centre for British Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
Introduction ~ Marius Guderjan, Hugh Mackay and Gesa Stedman;
Part I: The Politics and Culture of Austerity: Impacts and Resistance;
The Contracting State: Austerity and Public Services ~ Simon Griffiths;
Breaking Britain's Working Class: the Left Out ~ Lisa Mckenzie;
Political Activism and Agency under Austerity and Brexit ~ Tom Montgomery and Maria Grasso;
Culture Matters: Cuts and Resistance ~ Ingrid von Rosenberg;
Agents and Agency in the Face of Austerity and Brexit Uncertainty: the Case of Legal Aid ~ Steven Truxal;
Part II: The Politcs and Discourse of Brexit;
The Economy of Brexit: Performance, Interests and Agency ~ Carlo Morelli;
Brexit Populism: Disenfranchisement and Agency ~ Marius Guderjan and Adrian Wilding;
A Sovereign People? Political Fantasy and Governmental TIme in the Pursuit of Brexit ~ John Clarke;
'Not an International Health Service': Xenophobia, Brexit and the Restoration of National Sovereignty ~ Kirsten Forkert;
'Uni-Culti' Myths and Liberal Dreams: Brexit and Austerity from the Perspective of Migrants ~ Magdalena Nowicka;
Part III: Austerity and Brexit in a Divided Union;
From Brexit to the Break-Up of ... England? Thinking in and Beyond the Nation ~ Allan Cochrane;
Understanding Brexit in Wales: Austerity, Elites and National Identity ~ Hugh Mackay;
Scotland, Brexit and the Broken Promise of Democracy ~ Klaus Stolz;
Brexit, Devolution and Northern Ireland's Political Parties: Differential Solutions, Special Status or Special Arrangements? ~ Derek Birrell and Paul Carmichael;
More Than the Border? Looking at Brexit through Irish Eyes ~ Kevin Bean;
Conclusion ~ Marius Guderjan, Hugh Mackay and Gesa Stedman;
