Book contents
- Brexitspeak
- Brexitspeak
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Populists, Demagogues, Language
- 1 Identity
- 2 We
- 3 The People
- 4 The British People
- 5 Fear of Foreigners
- 6 Fear of Foreigners Mobilised
- 7 How Demagogues Do It
- Conclusion: Brexitspeak, Demagoguery, Decline of Democracy
- Book part
- References
- Index
Conclusion: Brexitspeak, Demagoguery, Decline of Democracy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 November 2024
- Brexitspeak
- Brexitspeak
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Populists, Demagogues, Language
- 1 Identity
- 2 We
- 3 The People
- 4 The British People
- 5 Fear of Foreigners
- 6 Fear of Foreigners Mobilised
- 7 How Demagogues Do It
- Conclusion: Brexitspeak, Demagoguery, Decline of Democracy
- Book part
- References
- Index
Summary
This an assessment of the main themes and arguments of the book. Looking back at Brexit, what is most striking is the subsequent economic decline of the UK – a consequence of Leave demagogues diverting voters’ attention from economic risks. Brexit’s populism was a manifestation of the Europe-wide rise of identitarian politics, the normalisation of national populism and the drift toward authoritarianism. These trends went with viewing the world as a collection separate sovereign nation states. A national population was imagined as a homogeneous mass, potentially embodied in a single sovereign leader. Seeing nations as separated entities brings a focus on foreign others, exemplified in the Brexiters’ fixation on immigration into the UK. Demagoguery, bound up with ‘post-truth’ culture, is used as an explanatory concept throughout this book, but requires redefinition in the age of mass media, data collection and psychological profiling. The most important conclusion is that Brexitspeak, Brexit policies and Brexit attitudes in government constitute threats to representative democracy, foreshadowed in the referendum process and actions by post-Brexit governments.
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- BrexitspeakDemagoguery and the Decline of Democracy, pp. 170 - 184Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024