Bristol University Press
8 A Sovereign People? Political Fantasy and Governmental Time in the Pursuit of Brexit
Abstract
The political conflict over the United Kingdom’s relationship to Europe was dominated by projections of sovereignty, particularly the ‘restoration’ of political sovereignty from Brussels to Westminster. This chapter explores two different aspects of this projection of sovereignty as a desire to take back control and regain ‘people’s agency’. The first aspect concerns its role as collective fantasy in which the chapter traces the ways in which the image of sovereignty was constructed and deployed in the campaign to Vote Leave. In particular, it considers how the conception of the nation as a sovereign people was central to the political mobilisation of Brexit and has persisted as a key reference point for continuing conflicts over Brexit. The second aspect concerns the emergent disjuncture between the political temporality implied in the Leave campaign and the return of governmental temporality. In doing so, the chapter draws on and develops Taguieff’s insight that populist political discourse suspends time in favour of a continuous present. In the process, the fantasy of the sovereign people has continued to play a central role in the denunciation of delay, doubt and dissent.
Abstract
The political conflict over the United Kingdom’s relationship to Europe was dominated by projections of sovereignty, particularly the ‘restoration’ of political sovereignty from Brussels to Westminster. This chapter explores two different aspects of this projection of sovereignty as a desire to take back control and regain ‘people’s agency’. The first aspect concerns its role as collective fantasy in which the chapter traces the ways in which the image of sovereignty was constructed and deployed in the campaign to Vote Leave. In particular, it considers how the conception of the nation as a sovereign people was central to the political mobilisation of Brexit and has persisted as a key reference point for continuing conflicts over Brexit. The second aspect concerns the emergent disjuncture between the political temporality implied in the Leave campaign and the return of governmental temporality. In doing so, the chapter draws on and develops Taguieff’s insight that populist political discourse suspends time in favour of a continuous present. In the process, the fantasy of the sovereign people has continued to play a central role in the denunciation of delay, doubt and dissent.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Tables v
- Notes on Contributors vi
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
-
The Politics and Culture of Austerity: Impacts and Resistance
- The Contracting State: Austerity and Public Services 19
- Breaking Britain’s Working Class: the Left Out 33
- Political Activism and Agency under Austerity and Brexit 45
- Culture Matters: Cuts and Resistance 59
- Agents and Agency in the Face of Austerity and Brexit Uncertainty: the Case of Legal Aid 73
-
The Politics and Discourse of Brexit
- The Economy of Brexit: Performance, Interests and Agency 89
- Brexit Populism: Disenfranchisement and Agency 103
- A Sovereign People? Political Fantasy and Governmental Time in the Pursuit of Brexit 117
- ‘Not an International Health Service’: Xenophobia, Brexit and the Restoration of National Sovereignty 131
- ‘Uni-Culti’ Myths and Liberal Dreams: Brexit and Austerity from the Perspective of Migrants 145
-
Austerity and Brexit in a Divided Union
- From Brexit to the Break-Up of ... England? Thinking in and Beyond the Nation 161
- Understanding Brexit in Wales: Austerity, Elites and National Identity 175
- Scotland, Brexit and the Broken Promise of Democracy 189
- Brexit, Devolution and Northern Ireland’s Political Parties: Differential Solutions, Special Status or Special Arrangements? 203
- More Than the Border? Looking at Brexit through Irish Eyes 219
- Conclusion 233
- Index 247
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Tables v
- Notes on Contributors vi
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
-
The Politics and Culture of Austerity: Impacts and Resistance
- The Contracting State: Austerity and Public Services 19
- Breaking Britain’s Working Class: the Left Out 33
- Political Activism and Agency under Austerity and Brexit 45
- Culture Matters: Cuts and Resistance 59
- Agents and Agency in the Face of Austerity and Brexit Uncertainty: the Case of Legal Aid 73
-
The Politics and Discourse of Brexit
- The Economy of Brexit: Performance, Interests and Agency 89
- Brexit Populism: Disenfranchisement and Agency 103
- A Sovereign People? Political Fantasy and Governmental Time in the Pursuit of Brexit 117
- ‘Not an International Health Service’: Xenophobia, Brexit and the Restoration of National Sovereignty 131
- ‘Uni-Culti’ Myths and Liberal Dreams: Brexit and Austerity from the Perspective of Migrants 145
-
Austerity and Brexit in a Divided Union
- From Brexit to the Break-Up of ... England? Thinking in and Beyond the Nation 161
- Understanding Brexit in Wales: Austerity, Elites and National Identity 175
- Scotland, Brexit and the Broken Promise of Democracy 189
- Brexit, Devolution and Northern Ireland’s Political Parties: Differential Solutions, Special Status or Special Arrangements? 203
- More Than the Border? Looking at Brexit through Irish Eyes 219
- Conclusion 233
- Index 247
