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The incredible vagueness of being British/English
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Cohen, Robin, 1944- (2000) The incredible vagueness of being British/English. International Affairs, Vol.76 (No.3). pp. 575-582. ISSN 0020-5850
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.00152
Abstract
After suggesting why strong national identities arise, the author highlights the difficulties of distinguishing between Britishness and Englishness. Though this distinction is frequently elided or conflated, there are now pressures to resolve ambiguities that arise from globalization, Celtic demands for autonomy, the UK's membership of the European Union and the growth of international expressions of English identity. Can a specifically English identity be demarcated! Simply listing supposed national characteristics is futile, while looking at the connection between identity and landscape is helpful, but insufficient. Delimiting a British identity is even more difficult. Nonetheless, the author suggests that it remains important to construct an inclusive notion of British identity.
| Item Type: | Book Review |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CB History of civilization D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | National characteristics -- Great Britain, National characteristics -- England |
| Journal or Publication Title: | International Affairs |
| Publisher: | Blackwell Publishing |
| ISSN: | 0020-5850 |
| Book Title: | The isles: a history ; Out of place: Englishness, Empire and the locations of identity ; After Britain: New Labour and the return of Scotland ; The English: a portrait of a people |
| Date: | July 2000 |
| Volume: | Vol.76 |
| Number: | No.3 |
| Number of Pages: | 9 |
| Page Range: | pp. 575-582 |
| Identification Number: | 10.1111/1468-2346.00152 |
| Status: | Peer Reviewed |
| Publication Status: | Published |
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
| Description: | Review of: Davies, N. (1999). The isles: a history. Basingstoke: Macmillan. ISBN: 033376370X ; Baucom, I. (1999). Out of place: Englishness, Empire and the locations of identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP. ISBN: 069100403X ; Nairn, T. (2000). After Britain: New Labour and the return of Scotland. London: Granta. ISBN: 1862072930 ; Paxman, J. (1999). The English: a portrait of a people. London: Penguin. ISBN: 0140267239. |
| URI: | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/13159 |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
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