Kursinformation

2105-2c: The DisUnited Kingdom? The Four Nations 25 Years after Devolution 

mittwochs       9.15-10.45 Uhr           Seminargebäude S 125                         Böhnke, Dietmar

Reading List: 

Bogdanor, Vernon (1999), Devolution in the United Kingdom. OUP; Bryant, Christopher G.A. (2006), The Nations of Britain. OUP; Clarke, Harold D. et al. (2017), Brexit. Why Britain Voted to Leave the European Union. CUP; Colley, Linda (2014), Acts of Union and Disunion. London: Profile Books; Deacon, Russell and Alan Sandry (2007), Devolution in the United Kingdom. Edinburgh UP; Gamble, Andrew, and Tony Wright, eds. (2009), Britishness: Perspectives on the British Question. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell; Kenny, Michael (2024), Fractured Union: Politics, Sovereignty and the Fight to Save the UK. Hurst. Kumar, Krishan (2016), The Idea of Englishness: English Culture, National Identity and Social Thought. London: Routledge; Perryman, M., ed.(2009), Breaking Up Britain: Four Nations after a Union. Lawrence + Wish.

In the autumn of 2024 (which may well see a new Labour government back in power after 14 years), it is exactly 25 years since the last Labour government opened the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies in 1999. Since both Scotland and Northern Ireland voted against Brexit in 2016 (which nevertheless happened in 2020), and signs for a possible reunification of Ireland grow stronger, the United Kingdom seems less than united and may even be on the verge of break-up (once again). So this must be an opportune moment to inquire into the ‘state of the nation’ of the UK. The question of Britishness as opposed to Scottishness, Welshness and Irishness (not to mention other ethnic identities, or even Europe) has certainly been further complicated in recent years. In this course, then, we want to look at the four nations in the context of devolution and Brexit (including historical, political and cultural aspects of the diverse identities involved) and reflect on the significance of these developments for the (future) politics and culture of the UK. This might also lead us to touch on more general/theoretical questions of the British Constitution, political culture and (the construction and representation of) national identities.