History, heritage and tradition in contemporary British politics

Abstract

who have not only been particularly encouraging but have also read and commented on sections of the text and provided many helpful suggestions for its improvement. I have also benefited enormously from conversations with

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

“…Many campaigners found questions about the role of nostalgia in the referendum specifically contentious (Anonymous 1, 2018;Anonymous 6, 2018;Anonymous 9, 2018;Anonymous 10, 2018). Such responses reflect the long-standing cultural appeal of a forward-looking orientation and suggest nostalgia's persistent unfavourable association with connotations of weakness and backwardness, derived from its historic origins as a medical disease (Robinson, 2012). Importantly, Vote Leave campaigners' professed rejection of nostalgia also became a significant way in which it could distinguish itself from its Eurosceptic referendum rivals, UKIP-Leave.EU, which were presented as the unappealingly nostalgic campaigns (Anonymous 7, 2018;Anonymous 9, 2018;Anonymous 10, 2018;Anonymous 11, 2018).…”

The language of priorities: Aneurin Bevan, Welsh labour and the politics of the past

“…The article begins by exploring the literature on the left's engagement with the past, in the Labour Party and in British politics. It draws heavily upon Emily Robinson's (2012) concept of 'presentist' politics as a means through which to study Welsh Labour's rhetoric. Following this, the article explains the methods by which references to Bevan will be analysed, as well as the benefits of studying speeches and rhetoric.…”

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

“…In general terms, the off-modern combination of past and future intimates that nostalgia is emotionally valuable not only as a source of backward-looking comfort amid 'crisis' but also as a vector of 'forward-looking' inspiration. This framing marks a concerted departure from nostalgia's seventeenth-century diagnosis as a potentially fatal medical disease (Davis, 1979), whose pejorative connotations continue to colour dominant contemporary understandings of the emotion as synonymous with unfavourable traits of pessimism, weakness and backwardness (Kenny, 2017;Robinson, 2012). By contrast, a forward-looking orientation tends to be culturally prized as indicative of a more desirable positive and progressive outlook (Robinson, 2012).…”

“…This framing marks a concerted departure from nostalgia's seventeenth-century diagnosis as a potentially fatal medical disease (Davis, 1979), whose pejorative connotations continue to colour dominant contemporary understandings of the emotion as synonymous with unfavourable traits of pessimism, weakness and backwardness (Kenny, 2017;Robinson, 2012). By contrast, a forward-looking orientation tends to be culturally prized as indicative of a more desirable positive and progressive outlook (Robinson, 2012). Yet as Kenny argues, the cultural value attributed to forward-looking stances does not erase nostalgia altogether but rather results in 'anti-nostalgic' nostalgic forms, which employ the affective resources of a nation's past even as they denigrate overt associations with pastness (Kenny, 2017).…”