Popular imaginative geographies and Brexit: Evidence from Mass Observation
Popular imaginative geographies and Brexit: Evidence from Mass Observation
The EU Referendum of 2016 was one of the most significant events in recent British political history. It is widely recognised that citizens engaged with the referendum through understandings of Britain, the EU, the world, and their place in it. This study compliments existing research where such understandings have been inferred from citizens’ demographic characteristics, the characteristics of their localities/regions, or elite discourses. It builds on existing research where a more direct engagement with citizens’ understandings has been achieved through interviews or focus groups, allowing the content of understandings to be thickly described. To these latter studies, this article makes three main contributions. First, it focuses on popular imaginative geographies, which are conceptualised drawing on literatures in Geography and Political Science as fast-thinking heuristics. Second, it brings new evidence to the conversation in the form of volunteer writing for Mass Observation. Third, the focus is on the content of popular imaginative geographies, but also how and why such geographies were used by voters in the referendum. The main findings include that many Leave supporters imagined Britain as an island – either a once great military and imperial power, an island separate from Europe, needing freedom from Europe to engage in the wider world; or a small island, a full container, close to the rest of Europe and vulnerable to mobilities across Europe’s borders. By contrast, many Remain supporters imagined Britain as post-imperial, small, vulnerable, and under threat of isolation from Europe and exposure to a chaotic, uncertain, dangerous world. Both groups engaged with the referendum through such popular imaginative geographies because the referendum presented voters with a difficult task, the campaigns provided few trustworthy facts, and voters therefore had to rely on cognitive shortcuts, including popular imaginative geographies.
Brexit, Britain, EU referendum, Mass Observation, imaginative geographies
732-746
Clarke, Nicholas
4ed65752-5210-4f9e-aeff-9188520510e8
Moss, Jonathan
df3d5c4b-2484-4743-bbef-4a6d384a222b
4 March 2021
Clarke, Nicholas
4ed65752-5210-4f9e-aeff-9188520510e8
Moss, Jonathan
df3d5c4b-2484-4743-bbef-4a6d384a222b
Clarke, Nicholas and Moss, Jonathan
(2021)
Popular imaginative geographies and Brexit: Evidence from Mass Observation.
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 46 (3), .
(doi:10.1111/tran.12444).
Abstract
The EU Referendum of 2016 was one of the most significant events in recent British political history. It is widely recognised that citizens engaged with the referendum through understandings of Britain, the EU, the world, and their place in it. This study compliments existing research where such understandings have been inferred from citizens’ demographic characteristics, the characteristics of their localities/regions, or elite discourses. It builds on existing research where a more direct engagement with citizens’ understandings has been achieved through interviews or focus groups, allowing the content of understandings to be thickly described. To these latter studies, this article makes three main contributions. First, it focuses on popular imaginative geographies, which are conceptualised drawing on literatures in Geography and Political Science as fast-thinking heuristics. Second, it brings new evidence to the conversation in the form of volunteer writing for Mass Observation. Third, the focus is on the content of popular imaginative geographies, but also how and why such geographies were used by voters in the referendum. The main findings include that many Leave supporters imagined Britain as an island – either a once great military and imperial power, an island separate from Europe, needing freedom from Europe to engage in the wider world; or a small island, a full container, close to the rest of Europe and vulnerable to mobilities across Europe’s borders. By contrast, many Remain supporters imagined Britain as post-imperial, small, vulnerable, and under threat of isolation from Europe and exposure to a chaotic, uncertain, dangerous world. Both groups engaged with the referendum through such popular imaginative geographies because the referendum presented voters with a difficult task, the campaigns provided few trustworthy facts, and voters therefore had to rely on cognitive shortcuts, including popular imaginative geographies.
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Accepted/In Press date: 1 March 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 March 2021
Published date: 4 March 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Research Councils UK?>?Economic and Social Research Council (Grant Number: ES/L007185/1). The authors are grateful to the ESRC for supporting some of the research on which the paper is based (award ES/L007185/1: ?Popular understandings of politics in Britain, 1945?2016?), the Mass Observation Archive for providing access and permissions, the archivists for their guidance and assistance, and the editor and three reviewers for their helpful comments and advice.
Funding Information:
Research Councils UK > Economic and Social Research Council (Grant Number: ES/L007185/1).
Publisher Copyright:
The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). © 2021 The Authors. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers)
Keywords:
Brexit, Britain, EU referendum, Mass Observation, imaginative geographies
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Local EPrints ID: 447479
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/447479
ISSN: 0020-2754
PURE UUID: 18bd25c3-762f-440b-b27f-0fe5aa80cdeb
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Date deposited: 12 Mar 2021 17:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:03
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Jonathan Moss
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