Back to the Future of a ‘Global Britain’

Abstract: This thesis explores the evolution of British nationalism regarding two major historical segments - industrialisation and imperialism - considering Brexit. The essay aims to reveal the true colours of Global Britain, and it is based on two dominant sections, the origins of British nationalism, as they are described by Ernest Gellner, Liah Greenfeld and Krishan Kumar, and its development into a hard Eurosceptic, right-wing populist phenomenon. The essay overall investigates the projection and the influence of Britain’s imperialist past during Brexit, how this affects British nationalism and what the role of right-wing populism is. Discourse analysis is applied as a methodological approach in order to extract and evaluate empirical data for the analysis. Additional literature is used to justify why I chose to study British nationalism through the process of industrialisation and why this is important for today’s Conservative political agenda. Imperial nostalgia is a strong factor in the discourse and for British nationalism in general. The references to Britain’s past are essential for the self-esteem of the nationalists in the country. This leads to nostalgia and the need to recapture this glorious past and make Britain great again. This can be achieved by breaking free from the EU and the Single Market and making the UK a champion of free trade worldwide. Regarding industrialisation as Gellner exposed it, the discourse is full of values and ideals deriving straight from his approaches. The importance of the English element is also revealed in British nationalism. Finally, the significance of self-determination and parliamentary sovereignty is also brought forward to analyse the ‘Vote Leave’ campaign’s goals and how they transformed British Euroscepticism.