Counter-Hegemony with No Outlet: A Neo-Gramscian Perspective on the Brexit Vote

Abstract

It is tempting when viewing the Brexit referendum and its justifications to lean on identity based analyses for explanations, pointing to a rise in right wing nationalism. However, if we are to look at the economic standing of those who voted no in the Brexit referendum, and moreover, to realize their place in larger flows of neoliberalism, a more complex picture comes into view. Neo-Gramscian theory is uniquely placed on this backdrop in its ability to give us a critical perspective on hegemony, as well as backlash towards it. In the course of this paper, the possibility that Brexit offers us an example of anti-hegemonic backlash against the larger neoliberal project of the EU will be explored. That is to say, in the context of an organic project of neoliberal expansion in which the leftist alternative in the UK has largely come to support further integration into the EU, to what extent can the Brexit vote be seen as counter-hegemony with no outlet?