British Political Parties and National Identity

British Political Parties and National Identity PDF Author: Pauline Schnapper
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527551385
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
This study is about party political discourses on national identity in Britain under the New Labour governments (1997–2010). Britishness has become a major theme in the British political debate since the end of the second world war, and even more so since the early 1990s, either directly or through discussions of specific issues like immigration, Europe or devolution to Scotland and Wales. Numerous political leaders have publicly worried about the weakness of the common citizenship in the UK and the threat to the survival of Britishness, which has been the only common thread in competing discourses between and within parties. The book examines the four issues which have embodied the different aspects of the debate about national identity in the UK, namely devolution, multiculturalism, European integration and globalisation. It shows that the polarised discourses (especially between the Conservatives and Labour) of the 1990s have given way to a relative rapprochement on these issues, with the notable exception of the European Union, where a real cleavage, in rethoric if not in policy, remains between and sometimes within British political parties.

British national identity and opposition to membership of Europe, 1961–63

British national identity and opposition to membership of Europe, 1961–63 PDF Author: Robert Dewey
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1847797296
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1558

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Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the opponents of Britain’s first attempt to join the European Economic Community (EEC), between the announcement of Harold Macmillan’s new policy initiative in July 1961 and General de Gaulle’s veto of Britain’s application for membership in January 1963. In particular, this study examines the role of national identity in shaping both the formulation and articulation of arguments put forward by these opponents of Britain’s policy. To date, studies of Britain’s unsuccessful bid for entry have focused on high political analysis of diplomacy and policy formulation. In most accounts, only passing reference is made to domestic opposition. This book redresses the balance by providing a more complete depiction of the opposition movement and a distinctive approach that proceeds from a ‘low political’ viewpoint. As such, the book emphasises protest and populism of the kind exercised by, among others, Fleet Street crusaders at the Daily Express, pressure groups such as the Anti-Common Market League and Forward Britain Movement, expert pundits like A. J. P. Taylor, Sir Arthur Bryant and William Pickles, as well as constituency activists, independent parliamentary candidates, pamphleteers, letter writers and maverick MPs. In its consideration of a group largely overlooked in previous accounts, the book provides essential insights into the intellectual, structural, populist and nationalist dimensions of early Euroscepticism. The book will be of significant interest to both scholars and students of national identity, Britain’s relationship with Europe and the Commonwealth, pressure groups and party politics, and the trajectory of the Eurosceptic phenomenon.

Nation, Class and Resentment

Nation, Class and Resentment PDF Author: Robin Mann
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 113746674X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
This timely book provides an extensive account of national identities in three of the constituent nations of the United Kingdom: Wales, Scotland and England. In all three contexts, identity and nationalism have become questions of acute interest in both academic and political commentary. The authors take stock of a wealth of empirical material and explore how attitudes to nation and state can be understood by relating them to changes in contemporary capitalist economies, and the consequences for particular class fractions. The book argues that these changes give rise to a set of resentments among people who perceive themselves to be losing out, concluding that class resentments, depending on historical and political factors relevant to each nation, can take the form of either sub-state nationalism or right wing populism. Nation, Class and Resentment shows that the politics of resentment is especially salient in England, where the promotion of a distinct national identity is problematic. Students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including sociology and politics, will find this study of interest.

National Identity, Nationalism and Constitutional Change

National Identity, Nationalism and Constitutional Change PDF Author: F. Bechhofer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230234143
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
What does it mean to say you're English, Scottish, British? Does it matter much to people? Has devolution and constitutional change made a difference to national identity? Does the future of the UK depend on whether or not people think they are British? Social and political scientists answer these questions vital to the future of the British state.

Political Intellectuals and Public Identities in Britain Since 1850

Political Intellectuals and Public Identities in Britain Since 1850 PDF Author: Julia Stapleton
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719055119
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
"Political intellectuals and public identities in Britain since 1850 will be of interest to scholars and advanced undergraduates in the fields of political thought and British intellectual and cultural history. It will also be of interest to a wider community of writers and commentators on the politics of English and British national identity."--BOOK JACKET.

British Political Parties

British Political Parties PDF Author: Justin Fisher
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
An up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to the development and organization of political parties in Britian and their role in British political life. For each of the three major British parties, Fisher provides details of the organization, internal elections, funding, ideology, groups and factions, details of the backgrounds of their Mps and candidates and an account of their recent history. Similar details are also provided for other parties in the British political system, no tably nationalist parties. These details are set in context with an overview of the development of the British party system and an analysis of the role parties play in contemporary British politics." Looks at the make-up of party membership and party electoral performance. An appendix details British and European election results. British PoliticsA Harvester Wheatsheaf Book.

British Political Parties and National Identity

British Political Parties and National Identity PDF Author: Pauline Schnapper
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527551385
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
This study is about party political discourses on national identity in Britain under the New Labour governments (1997–2010). Britishness has become a major theme in the British political debate since the end of the second world war, and even more so since the early 1990s, either directly or through discussions of specific issues like immigration, Europe or devolution to Scotland and Wales. Numerous political leaders have publicly worried about the weakness of the common citizenship in the UK and the threat to the survival of Britishness, which has been the only common thread in competing discourses between and within parties. The book examines the four issues which have embodied the different aspects of the debate about national identity in the UK, namely devolution, multiculturalism, European integration and globalisation. It shows that the polarised discourses (especially between the Conservatives and Labour) of the 1990s have given way to a relative rapprochement on these issues, with the notable exception of the European Union, where a real cleavage, in rethoric if not in policy, remains between and sometimes within British political parties.

The New Left, National Identity, and the Break-up of Britain

The New Left, National Identity, and the Break-up of Britain PDF Author: Wade Matthews
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004253076
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
In The New Left, National Identity, and the Break-Up of Britain Wade Matthews charts the nexus between socialism and national identity in the work of key New Left intellectuals, E.P. Thompson, Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Perry Anderson, and Tom Nairn. Matthews considers these New Left thinkers’ response to Britain’s various national questions, including decolonization and the End of Empire, the rise of European integration and separatist nationalisms in Scotland and Wales, and to the national and nationalist implications of Thatcherism, Cold War and the fall of communism. Matthews establishes a contestatory dialogue around these issues throughout the book based around different New Left perspectives on what has been called “the break-up of Britain.” He demonstrates that national questions where crucial to New Left debates.

Political Discourse and National Identity in Scotland

Political Discourse and National Identity in Scotland PDF Author: Murray Stewart Leith
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748647112
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Uses manifesto analysis to measure political nationalism in Scotland. Murray Leith and Daniel P. J. Soule explore the importance of groups, concepts and events such as the SNP and devolution, unionism, the political elite, political and public discourse, inclusion and exclusion, enforced nationalism, and birth, race and citizenship to nationalist feeling in Scotland. The authors set the Modernist view of Scottish nationalism against the work of Gellner, Anderson and Billig to create their own 'mixed method' of evaluating nationalism.

Self and Nation

Self and Nation PDF Author: Stephen Reicher
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1847876714
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
A `RARE BOOK′ FROM LOCAL AUTHORS `Here is a rare book, a truly helpful piece of work on the psychology of nationalism. Stephen Reicher and Nick Hopkins, of St Andrews and Dundee Universities, focus much of their study of recent Scottish experience, drawing on inter-views with political activists. The cast light on why our `Unionists′ and nationalists feel so sure their side represents our national identity and the other lot doesn′t. For once it is a compliment to say a book raises more questions than it answers. Stephen Reicher and Nick Hopkins open up large questions closer inspection′ - Glasgow Herald `In this impressive book Stephen Reicher and Nick Hopkins draw from a wealth of research to address issues of nationality, national identity and nationalism that lie at the heart of core topics in social psychology and its cognate disciplines. They have produced a powerful and scholarly text that interweaves an abundance of rich empirical data with a broad-reaching and timely theoretical statement. Moreover, the content is not confined to matters of national identity but also extends to treatments of stereotyping, prejudice, intergroup conflict, leadership, collective action, and the self .... For all these reasons, the book should serve essential and compelling reading for a very broad audience′ - S Alexander Haslam, Australian National University `Stephen Reicher and Nick Hopkins write with elegance and clarity, drawing the reader into their argument, without losing any of its complexity and nuance. This book deserves to make a major impact in studies of nationalism. It ought to become a classic.... I′m quite bowled over - it′s really brilliant′ - David McCrone, Edinburgh University

These Englands

These Englands PDF Author: Arthur Aughey
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526142279
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
The term ‘conversation’ is one of today’s jargon terms. This book explores in depth what conversation means in national terms. Its premise is that to be English is to participate in a conversation about the country’s history, politics, culture and society. The conversation changes, of course, but there is also continuity which illustrates a distinct tradition. It is a conversation, the book argues, which requires the plural notion of these Englands rather than the singularity of this England. Englishness, then, is the tone, register and idiom of it subject matters, its anxieties and certainties, differences and commonalities. The book explores the English conversation through historical, political, literary and popular voices and tries to identify the character of contemporary Englishness.