Europe, public opinion, and Brexit^*

* Editorial note: Professor Paul Claval was the 1997 recipient of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Centenary Medal. He is one of France’s best-known and most distinguished geographers, and the author of 42 books and over 800 academic papers and reviews. This essay was commissioned by the editors, and with a view to publishing it – and stimulating debate – around the time of the October 31st Brexit date. For more on some of the themes in the essay, see Claval (2016). DC and CW.

ABSTRACT

The construction – and deconstruction – of Europe is a spatial democratic process, and public opinion is central to it. One part of public opinion is fuelled by pragmatic – either economic (the search for prosperity) or strategic (the need for security) – arguments. Another is fired by political, moral and religious ideologies and identities (and utopian views of Europe in particular). Attitudes concerning Europe were never identical in the Western or Eastern halves of the continent, or in Britain. They evolved in connection with processes of economic change (from the second to the third phase of the Industrial Revolution), and latterly in relation to globalization and its geographic impact. Euroscepticism demands a deep adjustment of Europe to its current political-intellectual scene and geographic organization.

KEYWORDS:

• Europe
• Britain
• Brexit
• public opinion
• Euroscepticism
• globalization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

* Editorial note: Professor Paul Claval was the 1997 recipient of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Centenary Medal. He is one of France’s best-known and most distinguished geographers, and the author of 42 books and over 800 academic papers and reviews. This essay was commissioned by the editors, and with a view to publishing it – and stimulating debate – around the time of the October 31st Brexit date. For more on some of the themes in the essay, see Claval (2016). DC and CW.