Britain in Transition: Brexit and Beyond
International Conference, 23-‐25 May 2019
Centre for British Studies, Humboldt-‐Universität zu Berlin
The Arbeitskreis Großbritannien-Forschung (AGF)/German Association for British Studies and the Berlin-‐Britain Research Network (BBRN), based at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, will be hosting a joint conference to promote cutting-edge interdisciplinary dialogue and exchange on a UK that is in the midst of an extraordinary transition.
While Britain’s relationship with the EU has always been a troubled one, the 2016 referendum result not only has its roots in a long tradition of Euroscepticism, it can also be tied to more recent and wider social, economic and cultural dynamics within the UK. The terms under which the UK leaves the EU (or indeed whether the UK actually leaves the EU) remain to be seen. But it is clear that the vision of a one-‐off event, encapsulated by the portmanteau ‘Brexit’, that will fix in stone Britain’s future relationship with Europe for the foreseeable future is looking more and more illusory. Brexit is the current point of reference during a period of radical transition in Britain’s relationship with the EU, but it is an idea with numerous different interpretations and predictions. The origins of this transition can be seen long before the British EU-referendum, and yet what exactly will be the abiding character of Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with Europe will likely only gradually crystallise over a number of years following March 2019.
The conference “Britain in Transition: Brexit and Beyond” will provide an invaluable opportunity for participants and attendees to examine the internal and external state of the UK, three years after its citizens voted in a referendum to leave the EU. It will discuss, scrutinise and map out the origins and trajectories of this period of transition, looking in particular at the prospects of transformative processes in the UK: What has been in the past? How and why are things changing so radically now? Where will these changes take us? As well as the political and economic transformations that inevitably sit at the heart of the conference topic, the social, cultural and historical dynamics that are intertwined with these transformations will also form a major part of the discussion.
We invite abstracts for papers addressing the following themes:
- The future relationship between the UK and the EU
- The economics of Brexit
- Transformations of the UK’s political systems, parties and voting behaviour
- Social divisions in the light of Brexit, austerity and inequality
- Brexit and the devolved nations
- Migration, integration and borders
- Legal perspectives on Brexit
- Cultural transitions in the UK
- Historical perspectives on transformative periods
Please submit your abstract not exceeding 500 words to corinna.radke@staff.hu-‐berlin.de by 15 October 2018.
We are looking forward to welcoming new and regular participants alike.
Dr Marius Guderjan (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Dr Sam McIntosh (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Prof Paul Carmichael (Ulster University)
Lic Norbert Fabian (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)