A Cultural History of British Euroscepticism [Hardcover]

Why are the British so Euro-sceptic? Forget about tedious treaties, party politics or international relations. The real reason is that the British do not feel European. This book explores and explains the cultural divide between Britain and Europe, where it comes from and how it manifests itself in everyday life and the academic world.Introduction 1. The Second World War 2. The European Other 3. The Island Story 4. The Invention of Europe Conclusion

A Cultural History of British Euroscepticism represents an important and original contribution to the literature. It unpacks the taken for granted terms on which much of the debate is premised: the idea that we can treat Britain and Europe as separate and opposed entities. This binary is shown to be culturally ingrained and reproduced in the form of essential differences. The book is organised in a way that takes the reader on a cultural journey of the fundamental tenets of Britishness (the Second World War, the Island Story, the Reformation, the Common Law etc.), demonstrating how the binary of Britain and Europe is culturally constituted and reproduced through these events and institutions, a fundamental facet of the stories that accompany them. It includes contemporary content such as Cameron's Bloomberg speech, evidencing the continuation of British Euroscepticism within the political culture.

Spiering demonstrates how an array of cultural products and narratives have been devoted to ensuring that the questionable distinction of Britain and Europe, its extra-Europeaness, is taken to be true. While the book is not theoretically heavy, a cultural structuralism informs the central theme. In this sense it is a sophisticated yet readable and, for the most part, a jargon free account. I particularly enjoyed the references to literature and popular culture that are nicely interwoven with political speeches, views and debates. - Dr Chris Gifford, University of Huddersfield, UK

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