What’s the problem with Brexit? Notes from the middle of Britain’s crisis

Abstract

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Brexit and academia: a satyr play where exit prevails voice

“…Considering the new (bureaucratic and ideological) obstacles for collaboration in research, training, and learning, which emerge from Brexit, and the discontinuation of some key mobility schemes (such as Erasmus+, Creative Europe, or 'Europe for Citizens'), it is safe to say that the impact of Brexit on academia will be substantial (Hubble 2016; Education Select Committee 2017; see also Riedl and Staubmann 2021). It is all the more surprising, therefore, that aspects of research and development continue to be marginalised in the discussions and negotiations relating to Brexit (see Popham 2021). According to former science minister Jo Johnson, this is partly the fault of the academic community, since they missed key opportunities to engage in public debate: "[t]he [research] community hasn't really engaged as meaningfully as it ought to have done" (Kelly 2020).…”

“…Seen through a sociological-institutionalist lens, they can also operate as productive process. While Brexit will inevitably decelerate and also complicate academic collaboration and student and staff mobility between the UK and EU countries, it has also generated new fields of public discourse (see Popham 2021) and research (see Duggan 2021). Although often confined to discourses within the 'ivory tower' of academia, numerous studies across different disciplines have engaged in exploring the various factors that might help explain why the majority of the British people voted Leave.…”