British Discourses on Europe: Self/Other and National Identities Justin Gibbins A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Political Science and International Studies School of Government and Society University of Birmingham July 2012 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract Britain’s stormy relationship with the European Union is a frequently cited illustration of a Eurosceptic state par excellence. Possessive of a strong national identity, a unique island status, a plethora of wartime experiences and a tenacious hold over its sovereignty, Britain has long been invested with an ‘awkward partner’ status. This dissertation seeks to unravel such presuppositions to answer the central research question: how has British national identity been forged and constructed by competing political elite visions of Europe? I deploy a discourse analytic approach and the Self/Other nexus to examine elite configurations of Europe over three critical events in European integration history. The empirical findings suggest three things. Firstly, discursive constructions of Europe play a fundamental role in determining perceptions of national identity. Secondly, the emerging trend in poststructuralist discourse analysis that views the Other not as a single, radical, hostile adversary, but as a whole array of much subtler and less easily defined Others is pertinent to identity construction. Finally, although national identities are perceived as contingent on previous conceptualisations and shifts in identity are subsequently slow and incremental, the case of Britain actually reveals a range of discontinuities in its nationhood over the historical events. 1 Acknowledgements I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable help of my supervisors. Dr. David Bailey, Professor Peter Preston and Professor Thomas Diez all provided me with prompt feedback, incisive suggestions and important advice which very much helped with the vision, production and completion of this project. It would be difficult to find three academics that could have provided any more momentum. I would also like to thank Dr. Hans Joachim Knopf who made extremely useful comments about an earlier draft. To my wife, I thank her for her support and encouragement. Having been there since the inception of the doctoral process, she too has been part of this long, arduous and frequently uncertain journey. Finally, I am indebted to my parents for their love, support and companionship. Thank you to both of you. 2 Contents List of Figures, Tables and Appendices ....................................................................................... 6 List of Abbreviations.................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 8 Background ........................................................................................................................... 8 Britain, Europe and Identity .............................................................................................. 10 Thesis Aims ....................................................................................................................... 12 Theoretical Framework and Methodology....................................................................... 13 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 16 Organisation .................................................................................................................. 16 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 1: Theoretical and Methodological Framework ........................................ 20 1.1 The Problems of Defining National Identity ....................................................................... 20 1.2 Working towards a Definition: Identity in International Relations ................................. 26 1.2.1 Constructivist Approaches ............................................................................................ 27 1.2.2 Critical Approaches ...................................................................................................... 37 1.2.3 Discursive Approaches ................................................................................................. 43 1.2.4 Gendered Approaches ................................................................................................... 48 1.3 The First Layer: Discourse Analysis ................................................................................... 51 1.3.1 The Assumptions of Discourse Analysis ...................................................................... 51 1.3.2 Why Discourse Analysis? ............................................................................................. 55 1.4 The Second Layer: Self/Other Analysis .............................................................................. 57 1.4.1 Introduction and Assumptions ...................................................................................... 57 1.4.2 Friendly, Non-radical and Radical Others .................................................................... 60 1.5 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 65 1.5.1 Historical Events ........................................................................................................... 65 1.5.2 Official Discourses and Textual Material ..................................................................... 67 1.5.3 How to Look for Linking and Differentiation .............................................................. 71 Articulation .................................................................................................................. 71 Methodological Steps .................................................................................................. 74 1.6 Defining the Concept of National Identity .......................................................................... 76 Chapter 2: A Review of the Literature on British National Identity .................. 80 2.1 British National Identity ....................................................................................................... 80 2.1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 80 2.1.2 Interpreting History....................................................................................................... 81 2.1.3 War and Empire ............................................................................................................ 86 2.1.4 Geography and Landscape ............................................................................................ 97 2.1.5 The Break-up of Britain? ............................................................................................ 104 2.1.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 111 Chapter 3: The European Communities Membership Referendum ................. 115 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 115 3.2 Historical Background ........................................................................................................ 117 3.3 The Pro-Membership Debates ........................................................................................... 126 3.3.1 Predication within the Pro-Membership Debates ....................................................... 126 3.3.2 Presupposition within the Pro-Membership Debates.................................................. 135 3.3.3 Subject Positioning within the Pro-Membership Debates .......................................... 137 3.4 The Anti-Membership Debates .......................................................................................... 142 3.4.1 Predication within the Anti-Membership Debates...................................................... 142 3 3.4.2 Presupposition within the Anti-Membership Debates ................................................ 149 3.4.3 Subject Positioning within the Anti-Membership Debates ........................................ 151 3.5 Self/Other and National Identities ..................................................................................... 153 3.5.1 National Identity and Friendly Othering ..................................................................... 156 3.5.2 National Identity and Non-radical Othering ............................................................... 158 3.5.3 National