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Long-term social and demographic changes - and the conflicts they create - continue to transform British politics. In this accessible and authoritative book Sobolewska and Ford show how deep the roots of this polarisation and volatility run, drawing out decades of educational expansion and rising ethnic diversity as key drivers in the emergence of new divides within the British electorate over immigration, identity and diversity. They argue that choices made by political parties from the New Labour era onwards have mobilised these divisions into politics, first through conflicts over immigration, then through conflicts over the European Union, culminating in the 2016 EU referendum. Providing a comprehensive and far-reaching view of a country in turmoil, Brexitland explains how and why this happened, for students, researchers, and anyone who wants to better understand the remarkable political times in which we live.
List of contents
1. Introduction: how Britain became Brexitland; 2. Social change, ehnocentrism and the emergence of new identity divides; 3. Divided over diversity: identity conservatives and identity liberals; 4. Legacies of empire: Commonwealth immigration and the historical roots of identity politics divides; 5. The long divorce: parties and voters parting ways; 6. The identity conservative insurgency and the rise of UKIP; 7: Change without recovery: how the coalition catalysed Labour's demographic transformation; 8. Brexitland awakened: identity politics and the EU referendum; 9. Dancing to a different tune: identity politics and political change in Scotland 2007-19; 10. Brexitland after Brexit: the electoral fallout from the EU referendum; 11. Conclusion: the new politics of Brexitland.
About the author
Maria Sobolewska FRSA is a Professor of Political Science, and Deputy Director of the Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research, at the University of Manchester, and a Specialist Adviser to a House of Lords Select Committee on electoral registration. She is co-author of The Political Integration of Ethnic Minorities in Britain (2013).Robert Ford FRSA is Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester. He is an expert on immigration, public opinion, and party politics in Britain. His first book, Revolt on the Right (2013), was named Political Book of the Year in 2015. He writes regularly on British electoral politics for national and international media outlets.
Summary
An authoritative and accessible account of how long-term social and demographic changes - and the conflicts they create - continue to transform British politics. A book for anyone who wants to better understand the remarkable political times in which we live.
Additional text
'A highly acute and insightful analysis, making telling use of extensive research, which induces the reader to think afresh about the political landscape we now find ourselves in and how we arrived here.' Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer
Report
'Whether we like it or not, we are all living in Brexitland. In forensic detail, Sobolewska and Ford plot the long road of social change which led us here. En route, they look ahead to where the UK's explosive culture wars could take us next. Essential reading for those not wearing blinkers.' Adam Boulton, Sky News
