The Balancing ACT
National Identity and Sovereignty for Britain in Europe
2nd Edition
Published on 10. January 2017
162 pages
978-1-84540-859-6 (ISBN)
Description
This is a careful examination of the historical formation of Britain and of key moments in its relations with the European powers. The author looks at the governing discourses of politicians, the mass media, and the British people. The rhetoric of sovereignty among political elites and the population at large is found to conceive of Britain's engagement with Europe as a zero-sum game. A second theme is the power of geographical images - island Britain - in feeding the idea of the British nation as by nature separate and autonomous. It follows that the EU is seen as 'other' and involvement in European decision-making tends to be viewed in terms of threat. This is naive, as nation- states are not autonomous, economically, militarily or politically. Only pooling sovereignty can maximize their national interests. Atsuko Ichijo is Senior Researcher in European Studies at Kingston University.
More details
Edition
2nd ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
Luton, Bedfordshire
United Kingdom
Product notice
Windows
File size
1,19 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-84540-859-6 (9781845408596)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2008
Imprint Academic
€31.08
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Content
- Cover
- Contents
- Front Matter
- Title Page
- Publisher Information
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- The Balancing Act
- Introduction
- State and Nation Formation in Britain
- Introduction
- The formation of Britain as an independent state
- Dominant discourses of nationhood
- Concluding remarks
- British Involvement with European Integration
- Introduction
- An overview of relations with Europe: events and issues
- The British as reluctant Europeans: some explanation
- Geopolitical conditions
- Historical conditions: English experiences
- Public attitudes towards Europe
- Concluding remarks
- Britain's Place in the World: Political Elites' View
- Introduction
- Representations of Britain
- Britain as a global player
- Britain the good-a moral force
- Britain's relationship with the US and Europe
- Representations of the EU
- Negative representations of Europe
- Positive views of Europe
- Enlargement
- The EU constitution
- Concluding remarks
- What Do the Media Make of Britain and Europe?
- Introduction
- Nice Summit
- The representations of Britain
- The relationship between Britain and the EU
- The representations of the EU
- The euro launch
- The representation of Britain
- The relationship with the EU
- The representation of the EU
- Nations, nation-states and their sovereignty
- The EU constitution (The Treaty for Establishing a Constitution for Europe)
- Concluding remarks
- What Do 'Real' People Think? The Survey
- Introduction
- Closeness to various groups
- Patterns of identification
- British identity
- European Identity
- Conceptions of Identity
- Concluding remarks
- What Do 'Real' People Think? The Interviews
- Introduction
- Claim of lack of knowledge/interest
- Representations of Britain and the British
- Britain as an Island
- Britain: caught up in history
- Britain as a bridge between Europe and the US
- Representations of the EU
- Alienation
- Appreciation
- The euro
- The euro: against
- The euro: for
- European identity
- European as opposed to Americans/people from the rest of the world
- European as opposed to British
- Concluding remarks
- Conclusion
- Back Matter
- Bibliography
- Appendix
- Index
- Also Available
