REDEFINING

BRITISHNESS
Our present UK: expansionism of the
English crown
• Political core: England
• Wales: 1536
• 1707: Act of Union with Scotland
• 1801: Act of Union with Ireland
• Civil war: Partition of Ireland 1921
• 2/3 of the northern province of Ulster remained part of Britain
• The remaining third + three southern provinces : the Irish Free State
• 1937: became the Republic of Ireland
Britain: huge empire developped btw 17 &20c.
• Gradually ended after WWII
• UK: pressure outside and inside its borders : confuse identity = possible disintegration?
• Deeper integration into European Union and globalization, nationalist demands,
delegation of power, challenges of immigration in Britain
= is a unitary British state possible for the future?
• Spectacular changes: Devolution → Scottosh Parliament, Welsh Assembly, NI Assembly
• 2016 Brexit referendum : threat of disintegration
• Majority of people in Scotland and NI voted to remain in the EU
• Nicola Sturgeon : wished another referundum so that Scotland might stay in the EU as
an independent country
• Humza Yusaf (Scotland first minister since March 2023) + head of SNP
Nation-state : ‘homogeneous community if people living in a
distinct territory and sharing the same language and culture ’
• The UK: NOT a nation-state
• Combination of several identities: religious, linguistic, culture, social etc
• YET: one dimension dominates the others
• Scotland: independent nation btw 1320 and 1707
• Union with England BUT retained separate legal, religious and educational
systems, cultural practices = still an integral part of the UK.
• Share of the Protestant faith: active role in the dev of the Empire
• Influential inside the Labour and Liberal Parties
• Since 1970s: economic difficulties & globalization → resurgence of nationalism in
Scotland, Wales. Civil war in NI
‘essential British’? Or only Scottish, Welsh, or Irish?
Is being British and Scotish, Irish, Welsh possible?
• British and English identities:
• Devolution and the English identity or ‘Englishness’ = an issue for the
first time!
• Celtic fringe culture: identifiable → accent, cultural symbols
• Not the case for English people → a dominance that doesn’t need
differientiation
• Jeremy Paxman’s The English: A Portrait of a People
• English flags replacing the Union Jack (football and rugby stadiums)
• Distinct English identity: still blurry!
 After WWII: Britain as a muti-racial
society
• British/English identity: complex identity
• ‘hyphenated-identities’: Asian-British, Black-British
// US: Polish-American, Afro-American etc)
• Federalism or disintegration?
• September 18, 2014: Scottish independence
referendum
• → ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’
= 45% = YES VS 52%= NO.
The Times (London, 2 November 2005):
“Britons have long prided themselves on pragmatism and common sense. The British way of
life, an accretion of centuries of experience in these islands, has largely been based on what
works: the social structures, economic relationships and the framework of justice. There was
never a need for a formal constitution; the law, evolving in response to changing
circumstances, was based on shared values, general tolerance and a common understanding
of rights and duties.
But in the last 30 years, this complacency has been shaken. A multicultural Britain
can no longer rely for its cohesion on common background. Devolution, regional
nationalism, ethnic division and religious extremism have so widened the divisions that the
old certainties no longer prevail. What now passes for common sense? What is the glue
holding this disparate society together? What is Britishness? Five years ago the question was academic. Now it is as acute as it is sensitive.
Immigration has enhanced and enlivened the country, but has brought to Britain people
with beliefs, values, and backgrounds far removed and sometimes at odds, with the
prevailing culture. A misunderstood multiculturalism has led to social and cultural
fragmentation at the expense of a common core. And the shock of the 7/7 bombings has
raised the question: what does it mean to be British?”
• Difference btw the old Celtic ‘fringes’ (Wales, Scotland, NI) = anglized
AND an Anglo-Saxon Britain= England.

• 20th c. = British polulation has changed → massive immigration from Commonwealth

countries in the 1950s and 1960s essentially

• = large West Indian and Asian communities (inner-city areas + isolated from the rest of
British society)

• Multi-ethnicity → multi-faith society

• Class-ridden society
• Defining ‘Britishness’: difficult task
• Many Britons feel more English, Welsh or Scottish than British → ex: sports (The Six
Nations Rudby Tournament)
Britain today: prosperous and powerful
nation
• Since lost of its empire after WWII → tries to redefine its role on the world
scene
• 1973: became a member of the EEC (now called European Union)
• Torn btw its transatlantic and European loyalties
• June 2016: Leaving the EU
• 2020: Brexit became a reality
• Monarchy still present today YET Britain: modern and dynamic nation
• Tensions btw conservatism and progress/ insularity and openess
• Peaceful cohabitation of different nations, ethnic groups, religions, social
classes = ESSENCE OF BRITISHNESS.