Relocating England

Relocating England considers the implications of the rise of the European Union for the ways in which people in the UK think of themselves as political actors. The book considers whether the elite ideas of "Britain/Britishness" might be breaking down, thereby opening up the possibility of a broadly based re-animation of the ideas of "England/Englishness". The book follows in the footsteps of those scholars who have criticised the conservatism of the UK political establishment, their obsession with the "special relationship with the USA" and their blithe disregard of the benefits of the mainland model of progressive social market democracy.

Peter W. Preston is Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Birmingham.