Britain and Europe at a Crossroads : The Politics of Anxiety and Transformation

Britain and Europe at a Crossroads: The Politics of Anxiety and Transformation dissects the complex social, cultural and political factors that led the UK to take its decision to leave the EU and examines the far-reaching consequences of that decision. Developing the conceptual framework of securitization, the book uses primary sources and a focus on rhetoric and discourse analysis to examine the ways that political elites engineered a politics of fear, insecurity and Brexit nationalism before and after the Brexit vote. The book situates Brexit within a wider shift in international political ideas, traces the resurgence in popularity of far-right politics and explores how Britain and Europe now face a choice between further neoliberal reform or radical democratic and social renewal. The book posits a number of policy responses that might serve as antidotes to the causes of Brexit and radical right populism centred on a new Social Europe, redistribution and social justice and forms of deliberative democracy that extend participation and preserve representative judgement in the British tradition of ‘pouring new wine into old bottles’. This book dissects the complex social, cultural and political factors which led the UK to take its decision to leave the EU and examines the far-reaching consequences of that decision. Developing the conceptual framework of securitization, Ryder innovatively uses primary sources and a focus on rhetoric to examine the ways that political elites engineered a politics of fear, insecurity and Brexit nationalism before and after the Brexit vote. He situates Brexit within a wider shift in international political ideas, traces the resurgence in popularity of far-right politics and explores how Britain and Europe now face a choice between further neoliberal reform or radical democratic and social renewal. Front cover Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Tables List of Abbreviations Note on the Author Acknowledgements Preface Introduction: Paradigm Shift, Reflexivity and Securitization 1. Brexit Nationalism: History, Crisis and Identity 2. The Road to Brexit 3. Politics in Focus: The Conservatives 4. Politics in Focus: Labour 5. The Nationalists: Exclusionary and Civic 6. Brexit: Views from Europe 7. Boris Johnson: Getting Brexit Done? 8. Antidotes to Brexit Bibliography Index Back cover Ryder develops the conceptual framework of securitisation to make sense of the events surrounding the Brexit vote and its aftermath and examines the ways that political elites engineered a politics of fear, insecurity and Brexit nationalism in the run up to the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.