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
Results 6-10 of 78
... English conspiracy but rather as a reflection of the adaptive sense of Britishness of much of the United Kingdom population. This returns us to the basic premise of this book, that people have been actively engaged in the construction ...
... English than cricket, or more Welsh than rugby, for example. The chapter also considers the central role holidays have played in the construction of Britons' images of themselves. Finally the chapter explores culture as a site of ...
... English, at least, before imperialism, including the assumption that they were God's Englishmen, it does rather underestimate the effects of imperialism on British society. The monarchy has been absent from the discussion so far because ...
... English empire, and indeed in the colonies of white settlement the proportions of Scottish, Welsh and Irish to English were much more evenly balanced and 'Celtic' cultural pursuits were able to become the more central. While in Britain ...
... English associations.93 It is clear that the Conservatives saw the monarch as an ally in the nineteenth century but also as a method of securing votes for their party at elections. As the party of the established order they encouraged ...
Contents
14 | |
18 | |
22 | |
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 |
Index | 229 |