Britain in fragments: Why things are falling apart

Satnam Virdee; Brendan McGeever

doi:10.7765/9781526164605

Britain today is falling apart. One of the most dominant states in world history finds itself confronted with growing demands for nationalist secessionism. Brexit has already secured its break from the European Union while looming Scottish independence threatens to undermine the integrity of the British state. Meanwhile, class, gender, regional and generational inequalities are deepening while endemic racism has been re-invigorated. How has it come to this? Britain in fragments traces how the historic pillars sustaining the democratic settlement have begun to crumble. This stability was constructed amid a century of imperial expansion abroad and working-class struggles for justice at home. The post-war welfare state was the apex of this historic arrangement; however, the ground beneath it began to shake as the processes of decolonisation and neoliberalism unfolded. This book traces how successive Labour and Conservative governments have incrementally dismantled the democratic settlement. A bipartisan commitment to neoliberalism has culminated in a historic crisis of representation and legitimacy, opening the door to competing nationalist forces.

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Britain in fragments

Why things are falling apart

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Contents

Front Matter
pp i-iv

Dedication
pp v-vi

Contents
pp vii-vii

Acknowledgements
pp viii-x

Introduction
pp 1-10

1 - A flawed democracy
pp 11-41

2 - The underside of the welfare state
pp 42-68

3 - Anti-racism, socialist utopias and neoliberal reaction
pp 69-95

4 - New Labour and remaking class
pp 96-124

5 - Austerity, Scottish independence, Brexit
pp 125-155

Conclusion: Amid the ruins
pp 156-171

Bibliography
pp 172-192

Index
pp 193-197

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Britain in fragments

Why things are falling apart

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