From mood to movement: English nationalism, the European Union and taking back control^†

† The research was conducted at Sheffield Hallam University.

Abstract

This article considers whether the 2016 EU referendum can be perceived as an English nationalist movement. Specifically, attention is given to examining how memories of the former British Empire were nostalgically enveloped in anxieties regarding England’s location within the devolved UK state. The comments and work of Enoch Powell and George Orwell are used to help explore the link between nostalgia and anxiety in accounts of English nationalism. Despite their opposing political orientations, when considered together, it is argued that both men provide a unique cross-political perspective on Englishness, empire and nostalgia. By way of exploring these themes in relation to the EU referendum, Aughey’s assertion that English nationalism can be perceived as both a “mood” and “movement” is used to highlight how a sense of English anxiety regarding its lack of national sovereignty (mood), as well as a desire to reclaim this sovereignty by renegotiating trade relations with the “Anglo-sphere” (movement), were conjoined in the popular referendum slogan, “take back control”. In conclusion, it is argued that the contextualization of the referendum can be predicated upon an orientation to empire that steers away from glorifying pro-imperial images of England/Britain, towards a more positive and progressive appropriation of the EU referendum as a statement of national change and belonging.

Keywords:

• English nationalism/national identity
• 2012 EU referendum
• George Orwell
• Enoch Powell
• nostalgia
• British Empire

ORCID

Jack Black http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1595-5083

Notes

† The research was conducted at Sheffield Hallam University.

1. This was in contrast with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, where 96% voted to remain in the EU.

2. Certainly, the aim here is not to suggest that the British Empire was a complete invention of the English. Rather, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all maintained their own complicated relationships with empire (Ward 2001).

3. Aughey (2010) identifies four English anxieties which are prevalent in accounts of contemporary English nationalism: an “anxiety of absence”, “anxiety of silence”, “anxiety of anticipation”; and, “anxiety of imitation”.

4. This quote is taken from Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant”, published in 1936, but cited here from Orwell’s (1984) collected essays.

5. Articles were obtained from the following sources: New Statesman, openDemocracy, The Guardian, Discover Society, Harvard Business Review and LSE’s “British Politics and Policy” and “Brexit” Blogs. These various sources provided a number of appraisals regarding the referendum and its result.

6. Hatherley (2016) applies this critique to recent attempts by ‘the left’ to evoke memories of 1945 and the emergence of the Welfare State.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.