The United Kingdom and British Empire: a figurational approach

Abstract

Drawing upon the work of Norbert Elias and the process [figurational] sociology perspective, this article examines how state formation processes are related to, and, affected by, expanding and declining chains of international interdependence. In contrast to civic and ethnic conceptions, this approach focuses on the emergence of the nation/nation-state as grounded in broader processes of historical and social development. In doing so, state formation processes within the United Kingdom are related to the expansion and decline of the British Empire. That is, by focusing on the functional dynamics that are embedded in collective groups, one is able to consider how the UK's 'state' and 'imperial' figurations were interdependently related to changes in both the UK and the former British Empire. Consequently, by locating contemporary UK relations in the historical context of former imperial relationships, nationalism studies can go 'beyond' the nation/nation-state in order to include broader processes of imperial expansion and decline. Here, the relationship between empire and nationalism can offer a valuable insight into contemporary political movements, especially within former imperial groups.

‘Success in Britain comes with an awful lot of small print’: Greg Rusedski and the precarious performance of national identity

“…This is of considerable significance when considering how the transnational causes that gave the English a sense of identity—Protestantism, industrialism, imperialism—are either weak or absent and where the European Union, for many, is as much a threat as a promise (Black, 2018). The presence of a large minority of non‐European, non‐White, citizens continues to be a source of anxiety to a considerable section of the White majority in the United Kingdom.…”

“…Accordingly, rather than reproducing a structuralist form of hegemonic power, we instead propose that it is the ability of social norms to incorporate, but also, obfuscate, their inherent differences, which helps to maintain their hegemonic power. This is of considerable significance when considering how the transnational causes that gave the English a sense of identity-Protestantism, industrialism, imperialism-are either weak or absent and where the European Union, for many, is as much a threat as a promise (Black, 2018). The presence of a large minority of non-European, non-White, citizens continues to be a source of anxiety to a considerable section of the White majority in the United Kingdom.…”

“…The following examples are significant for highlighting the ‘internal’ contradictions that are brought to bear within multi‐national state figurations, such as Britain (Black, 2018; Black & Whigham, 2017; Whigham & Black, 2018, 2019). Despite Rusedski clearly being eligible to represent Britain, in much of the coverage surrounding Rusedski, he was often framed as being both ‘foreign’ and non‐English, especially when compared to Henman's more ‘obvious’ Englishness.…”

“…Butler's notion of the subject proves illustrative of the extent to which the subject is continually being made, remade and ‘worked on,’ all the time being unsure of what is required of them—the correct way to act, speak and be—yet, nonetheless, remaking the self as it is orientated in accordance with social norms that can be challenged and put under ‘crisis.’ It is here that we wish to examine how this orientation is reflected in ways of being that are both contingent and, more specifically, repeatedly reproduced amidst social norms that, in the case of both national (especially ‘English’) and ethnic identities (especially Whiteness), are frequently believed to be under ‘crisis’ (Black, 2015, 2016b, 2018; Fletcher & Hylton, 2016, 2018; Gilroy, 2004). Of course, context is important here, given the fluid and dynamic nature of identity construction and reformation.…”

Decolonising the curriculum: US Study Abroad: London Architecture and Urbanism – Albertopolis, South Kensington

“…On this trajectory, Jack Black argues for 'a re-centering of the relationship between empire and nationalism'. 14 In Britain there is a complex relationship with the concept of nationalism. To address this debate would mean identifying who belongs to it, and whether the narrative is the same for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -or is it particular to England, and London?…”