Englishness: The Political Force Transforming Britain

by Ailsa Henderson, Richard Wyn Jones

Overview

Until the Brexit referendum, there was widespread doubt as to whether English nationalism existed at all, at least beyond a small fringe. Since then, it has come to be regarded an obvious explanation for the vote to Leave the European Union. Subsequent opinion polls have raised doubts about the extent of continuing English commitment to the Union of the United Kingdom itself. Yet even as Englishness is apparently reshaping Britain's place in world and perhaps, ultimately, the state itself, it remains poorly understood.

In this book Ailsa Henderson and Richard Wyn Jones draw on data from the Future of England Survey, a specially commissioned public attitudes survey programme exploring the political implications of English identity, to make new and original arguments about the nature of English nationalism.

They demonstrate that English nationalism is emphatically not a rejection of Britain and Britishness. Rather, English nationalism combines a sense of grievance about England's place within the United Kingdom with a fierce commitment to a particular vision of Britain's past, present, and future. Understanding its Janus-faced nature - both England and Britain - is key not only to understanding English nationalism, but also to understanding the ways in which it is transforming British politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192867599
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/13/2023
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	9.22(w) x 6.28(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Ailsa Henderson, Professor of Political Science, University of Edinburgh,Richard Wyn Jones, Professor of Welsh Politics and Dean of Public Affairs, Cardiff University

Ailsa Henderson is Professor of Political Science at the University of Edinburgh and the co-author of The National Question and Electoral Politics in Quebec and Scotland (with É Bélanger, R Nadeau, E Hepburn, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2018).

Richard Wyn Jones is Professor of Welsh Politics and Dean of Public Affairs at Cardiff University. He is the co-author of Wales Says Yes: Welsh Devolution and the 2011 Referendum (with R Scully, University of Wales Press, 2012).

Table of Contents

Introduction: Englishness and the New British Politics1. England Speaks: The 2015 UK General Election and the 2016 EU Referendum2. On Englishness and Britishness3. The English on England and the UK4. The English on Britain in the World5. The English World View6. England, Scotland, and Wales Compared7. Accommodating England8. Analysing England

Editorial Reviews

"Scrupulously researched and scholarly book." — Tunku Varadarajan, Wall Street Journal

"...excellent new book... full of insight, and with a clarity not always present in the work of social scientists - leaves the reader in no doubt as to the growing strength of English identify..." — The Daily Telegraph

"An essential read for anyone interested in nationalism and the future of the union (or in understanding Brexit)." — Andrew Sparrow, The Guardian

"What makes the crisis of British politics so strange is that at its heart is a force that dare not speak its name: Englishness. It is at once extremely potent and hard to articulate, strongly felt but poorly understood. The work of Ailsa Henderson and Richard Wyn Jones has been crucial to the mapping of this previously murky territory and Englishness is a superb overview of the evidence they have gathered so meticulously and weighed so carefully. The English world view so subtly and intelligently probed here has consequences far beyond its own borders. No one who wants to understand those consequences can do without this terrific book." — Fintan O'Toole, The Irish Times

"Lucid and heavily detailed." — David Kernek, Irish Examiner

"...the authors of this book take a mature and balanced approach to what is a highly significant yet somewhat neglected issue....a work of fundamental importance... could prise open many closed minds. If the left is going win back millions of people, as it needs to, we clearly need to talk about England." — Brian Denny, Morning Star

"The rise of Englishness, and its impact on British constitutional politics, has for too long been an under-explored, semi-secret, phenomenon: a spectre that dare not speak its name. But it has profound implications for the future of the United Kingdom. This book should be read by anyone — and especially every politician — who wishes to understand the forces driving British politics to its current febrile, fractured, state. It is more than an important book, it is a necessary and overdue one." — Alex Massie, The Spectator and The Sunday Times

"The best book on Scottish politics that I have read in a long time. This is not as paradoxical as it sounds: it explores the inextricable tangles of Englishness, Britishness and Scottishness. It is impressive both for the sharpness of its analysis and the solidity of its empirical foundations, based on extensive social surveys carried out for the Future of England Survey." — Dennis Smith, Scottish Review

"...remarkably coherent, factual and on occasion, severely to the point... Englishness makes for vitally important, if not compulsive reading." — David Marx Book Reviews

"The authors provide a convincing and eloquent explanation of this politicisation of Englishness..." — Ben Wellings, Australian Book Review

"This book provides fresh insight into the character of English nationalism, showing how it presents not only a distinctive vision of England's role within the UK but also of Britain's place within the world. This vision has already played a key role in bringing about Brexit - and it could now prove a decisive influence as Britain debates how to adapt to the post-Brexit, post-COVID world." — Sir John Curtice, Professor of Politics, University of Strathclyde

"A fascinating and subtle study, which - precisely because so challenging - should be read with great attention by all those who hope to keep the United Kingdom united." — Tom Holland, historian, biographer, and broadcaster. Author of Rubicon: The Triumph and the Tragedy of the Roman Republic, and Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind

"This book gives a compelling account of English nationalism, its motivations, and discontents. For anyone concerned about the future of the United Kingdom, this is essential reading." — Philip Rycroft, Former Head of the UK Governance Group in the Cabinet Office, and Former permanent secretary of the Department for Exiting the European Union

"Englishness is not only a pioneering analysis of English nationalism but a vital source for understanding the origins of Brexit and the transformation of British politics in the last few years. It is certainly a book of the first importance." — Sir Tom Devine, Sir William Fraser Professor Emeritus of Scottish History and Palaeography, the University of Edinburgh

"The politics of England and the UK have been transformed in the past 20 years. This book makes a powerful case that the politics of Englishness, a force largely overlooked by academics and commentators, has been at the heart of those changes." — John Denham, Professorial Fellow on English Identity and Politics, University of Southampton

From the Publisher