Britishness Since 1870What does it mean to be British? It is now recognized that being British is not innate, static or permanent, but that national identities within Britain are constantly constructed and reconstructed. Britishness since 1870 examines this definition and redefinition of the British national identity since the 1870s. Paul Ward argues that British national identity is a resilient force, and looks at how Britishness has adapted to changing circumstances. Taking a thematic approach, Britishness since 1870 examines the forces that have contributed to a sense of Britishness, and considers how Britishness has been mediated by other identities such as class, gender, region, ethnicity and the sense of belonging to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. |
From inside the book
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... crisis ' appear profound . Being British is no longer seen as innate , static and perma- nent . Indeed , it is seen as under threat . In this book I examine the definition and redefinition of national identities within the United ...
... crisis in its historical context . What is meant by ' Britishness ' is , of course , a complex issue . I argue that across the period since 1870 the majority of Britons , that is people living in the United Kingdom , have adopted ...
... crises of national identity . It is even possible to see ways in which Britishness has been strengthened in recent years . This can be seen in the construction of black and Asian ' British ' identities , and the Labour government's ...
... crisis of Britishness at the end of the twentieth century . He doubts whether the United Kingdom will last another century . 35 Weight provides a detailed , clear and wide - ranging argument , but he assumes too easily that British ...
... crisis from at least the 1940s , and that in the near future that crisis will not be able to resolve itself . The argument of this book is that the period from the 1870s to the present has been about the continuing definition of ...
Contents
Monarchy and Empire | 14 |
Ceremony celebration and the making of the nation as family | 18 |
nation ethnicity and class | 22 |
Politics monarchy and imperialism | 28 |
The monarchy and the end of Empire | 31 |
Gender and national identity | 37 |
Masculinity Britishness and Empire in the late nineteenth century | 38 |
Women and the nation 18701918 | 39 |
Countervailing currents | 96 |
The First World War | 98 |
Between the wars | 100 |
British Fascism and Communism | 101 |
Patriotism and politics in the peoples war | 105 |
The politics of European identity | 108 |
A new way of being British ethnicity and Britishness | 113 |
Continuities and varieties before 1945 | 116 |
Women in Ireland Scotland and Wales | 42 |
The impact of the Great War | 44 |
Gender and Britishness in the Second World War | 47 |
Gender race and home in postwar Britain | 50 |
Rural urban and regional Britishness | 54 |
Finding the core of the nation | 55 |
Regional identities | 66 |
Spare time | 73 |
Sport nation and Empire | 74 |
Sport and nation in Scotland Wales and Ireland | 76 |
Regional and local identities in British sport | 80 |
Race sport and identity | 82 |
Discordant voices | 84 |
Going on holiday | 85 |
Resisting the Americanisation of culture | 89 |
Politicians parties and national identity | 93 |
The Second World War and the national community | 123 |
Numbers and the other in affluent Britain | 125 |
the politics of exclusion | 127 |
Black and Asian identities in the UK | 135 |
Outer Britain | 141 |
Holding together or pulling apart? | 142 |
Wales | 143 |
Scotland | 149 |
Ireland and Northern Ireland | 157 |
The end of Britain? | 168 |
Conclusion | 170 |
Notes | 174 |
Bibliography | 211 |
229 | |