Euroscepticism, Anti‐Nostalgic Nostalgia and the Past Perfect Post‐Brexit Future

Abstract

While extant work on British Euroscepticism has highlighted vestiges of historical empire imaginaries in discourses opposing EU integration, the emotional dynamics of such frames remain curiously underexplored. The diluted quality of these Eurosceptic histories, with their distinctive interplay of past and future, has led some to reject their nostalgic emotional credentials altogether. This article challenges such assumptions of emotional absence through a qualitative discourse analysis of the 2016 EU referendum Vote Leave campaign's materials, and interviews with 13 former campaigners. By unpacking Vote Leave's preference for an anti-nostalgic form of empire nostalgia, central to its vision of a past perfect post-Brexit future, this analysis contributes primarily to literatures on British Euroscepticism and Brexit, revealing the counterintuitive nostalgic politics and persistent cultural appeal of ostensibly forward-looking discursive stances. The analysis also has broader relevance, particularly for advocates of an 'emotional turn' in EU Studies and scholars investigating escalating nationalisms beyond Britain.

Powellite nostalgia and racialised nationalist narratives: Connecting Global Britain and Little England

“…Powellite nostalgia, then, manifests specifically as a desire to restore the racial homogeneity of England and preserve the qualities of white Englishness from the existential threat of a supposed immigration 'crisis'. Although Powellite nostalgia is rooted in the experiences of empire, it is distinct from the 'outward-facing' and superficially 'anti-nostalgic' imperial and colonial nostalgias associated with the Global Britain discourse (Melhuish, 2022), finding emotional resonance instead in the 'inward-looking' but imperially-inflected imaginaries of a domesticated Little England.…”

“…Yet Global Britain's persistent association with the British empire and race mean that it is not simply English nationalism's more palatable sibling. Scholars have only recently begun to unpack the racial dimensions of the Global Britain discourse, including its thinly-veiled preference for limited, culturally compatible forms of immigration (Namusoke, 2016(Namusoke, , 2019 and its entanglement with imperial and colonial nostalgias, defined, respectively, as a desire to rehabilitate the political economic benefits of Britain's world role and resurrect comforting relationships with its former white settler colonies (Melhuish, 2022).…”

“…In autumn 2015, Vote Leave emerged from a Conservative-dominated quarter of the Eurosceptic ecosystem which, led by seasoned campaigner Dominic Cummings, had historically distinguished itself by positioning EU withdrawal as a lofty and 'forward-looking' attempt to reorient Britain towards 'national priorities', such as public health, science and technology (Melhuish, 2022). Vote Leave perpetuated similar arguments throughout the referendum, with interviewees also emphasising the campaign's 'forward-looking ', and thus 'positive' and 'optimistic' orientation (e.g.…”

From Realpolitik to Gefühlspolitik : strategically narrating the European Union at the national level

“…Regarding the first point, it is important to note that whilst not all member states would narrate the EU as positively as Germany did, and not all of their histories are as deeply intertwined, they nonetheless have to navigate EU narratives and resort to Gefühlspolitik. For example, during the Brexit campaign, the EU was narrated as having disrupted the UK's path and was deeply rooted in an affectively appealing nostalgia (Melhuish, 2022; see also Browning, 2019); more generally, research has shown that framing the EU emotionally resonates stronger with audiences (Atikcan, 2015;Atikcan et al, 2020). Moreover, analysing the case of Germany allows us to bring a comparative angle and demonstrate how the same narrative was strategically used within a short timeframe to justify two starkly different positions: the pro-refugee 'open-door policy', and the backing of the EU-Turkey deal.…”

In Quest for Discursive Legitimation of Ongoing Policy Processes: Constructing Brexit as a Success Story

“…These are often in the form of ostentatious self‐affirming proclamations, attributing to the post‐Brexit future positive qualities such as ‘great’, ‘bright’ and ‘prosperous’ (Brusenbauch Meislová, 2019). The UK government frequently appeals to a nostalgic vision of the UK's role as a ‘proud trading nation’, tapping into British aspirations to be acknowledged again as a great power (Freedman, 2020; Melhuish, 2022).…”