Some media and political science narratives suggest post-Brexit Britain is locked in a culture war epitomised by the differences thought to divide Leavers and Remainers in terms of their national values, classed and racialised identities. This article sets out to provide a more complex depiction of reality. To do this, we draw on in-depth interviews with individuals across Leave, Remain, national, migrant, racial, ethnic and class identities to trace how they articulate ideas of Empire and nationhood when they discuss Brexit and the legitimacy of statues linked to British histories of colonialism and enslavement. We explore the contrasts and complexities in the ways in which individuals supporting Leave or Remain mobilise what we call their ‘Brexit biographies’ when they think about questions of Brexit, Empire and nationhood. On the one hand, our Remain interlocutors articulate more politically progressive racialised and classed articulations of Brexit, Empire and nationhood compared to some Leave supporters. However, on the other hand, when we switch context to examine the legitimacy of statues commemorating histories of colonialism and enslavement with some of the same individuals this distinction in the values of Leave and Remain supporters begins to break down. Our contention is that detailed sociological attention to the connections uniting Leavers’ and Remainers’ reflexive worldviews is required to properly comprehend how individuals experience, as well as reproduce and dislodge, racial, class and national inequalities that underpin the fabric of British society.

中文翻译：

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英国脱欧传记：通过帝国和“文化战争”的钥匙孔问题对种族、阶级和国家的日常阐述


一些媒体和政治学的叙述表明，英国脱欧后陷入了一场文化战争，其缩影是被认为在国家价值观、阶级和种族化身份方面分裂脱欧者和留欧者的差异。本文旨在提供对现实的更复杂的描述。为此，我们利用对脱欧、留欧、民族、移民、种族、民族和阶级身份的个人的深入采访，以追踪他们在讨论英国脱欧以及与英国殖民主义和奴隶制历史相关的雕像的合法性时如何表达帝国和国家的概念。我们探讨了支持脱欧或留欧的个人在思考英国脱欧、帝国和国家地位问题时，动员我们所谓的“英国脱欧传记”的方式的对比和复杂性。一方面，与一些脱欧支持者相比，我们的留欧对话者对英国脱欧、帝国和国家地位的政治进步、种族化和阶级化表达了更为进步。然而，另一方面，当我们切换上下文来审视与某些相同个人一起纪念殖民主义和奴役历史的雕像的合法性时，脱欧和留欧支持者价值观的这种区别开始瓦解。我们的论点是，需要对将脱欧派和留欧派的反身世界观联系起来的社会学关注，以正确理解个人如何体验以及复制和消除支撑英国社会结构的种族、阶级和国家不平等。