The politics of imperial nostalgia
The politics of imperial nostalgia
In post-imperial European states, debates about imperial legacies – centred on issues such as colonial statues, police treatment of minorities, and school curricula – have intensified in recent years. Yet little systematic research examines public attitudes towards empire or their political impact. We develop a framework linking imperial nostalgia with political preferences and present findings from Britain using a national survey and conjoint experiment. First, we identify a distinct public opinion dimension on empire, ranging from nostalgic to critical. Second, we show that imperial nostalgia strongly predicts party evaluations and vote intentions, with effects comparable to those of immigration attitudes and left–right economic values. Finally, a conjoint experiment reveals that elite positions on empire influence voter preferences, but do so asymmetrically: right-wing opposition to criticism of the imperial past is stronger than left-wing support. These findings underscore the contemporary political relevance of imperial nostalgia in post-imperial Europe.
Claassen, Christopher
c0015349-91df-4667-a7b8-672765f4a410
Devine, Daniel
6bfa5a27-1b58-4c61-8eb0-a7a40860a4ae
24 November 2025
Claassen, Christopher
c0015349-91df-4667-a7b8-672765f4a410
Devine, Daniel
6bfa5a27-1b58-4c61-8eb0-a7a40860a4ae
Claassen, Christopher and Devine, Daniel
(2025)
The politics of imperial nostalgia.
British Journal of Political Science, 55, [e167].
(doi:10.1017/S0007123425101130).
Abstract
In post-imperial European states, debates about imperial legacies – centred on issues such as colonial statues, police treatment of minorities, and school curricula – have intensified in recent years. Yet little systematic research examines public attitudes towards empire or their political impact. We develop a framework linking imperial nostalgia with political preferences and present findings from Britain using a national survey and conjoint experiment. First, we identify a distinct public opinion dimension on empire, ranging from nostalgic to critical. Second, we show that imperial nostalgia strongly predicts party evaluations and vote intentions, with effects comparable to those of immigration attitudes and left–right economic values. Finally, a conjoint experiment reveals that elite positions on empire influence voter preferences, but do so asymmetrically: right-wing opposition to criticism of the imperial past is stronger than left-wing support. These findings underscore the contemporary political relevance of imperial nostalgia in post-imperial Europe.
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Accepted/In Press date: 27 October 2025
Published date: 24 November 2025
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 507128
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/507128
ISSN: 0007-1234
PURE UUID: 9ca66b0f-650e-4701-829b-7deca3363714
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Date deposited: 27 Nov 2025 17:48
Last modified: 28 Nov 2025 02:56
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Author:
Christopher Claassen
Author:
Daniel Devine
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