Edited by Stephanie Taylor, Friday, 7 Jul 2017, 11:04
In our continuing series of blogs from the DD317 module team, Eleni Andreouli writes about a social psychological view of Brexit:
It was one of the defining moments of 2016 when British
people voted to leave the European Union, against the so called ‘political
establishment’. Alongside the election of Donald Trump in the US, Brexit is
seen as marking the beginning
a new political era in Western democracies. In seeking to explain this
‘political earthquake’, several academics and other analysts have pointed to
the rise of the far-right, the growth of populism, authoritarianism and
xenophobia, and a more general ‘crisis of democracy’ and of liberalism.
There are certainly many threads on could pick up when discussing
what Brexit means, its symbolism and its repercussions. What has become clear
is that we need to take into account both social and psychological factors to understand these new political
movements. For this, we need social psychology. What concepts could be useful
in starting to unpack Brexit politics? These are many, but here are some that
are particularly important:
Identity, a central social psychological concept, has been
extensively used to understand why some social groups voted for Brexit while
others did not. Unsurprisingly, national and European identities have taken
centre stage in this discussion, but also the role of class identities, gender
and ethnicity has been discussed in some depth.
Similarly, the role of cultural values, for example
endorsing more liberal or more communitarian value systems, appears to be
central in explaining new political orientations in the Brexit era. Like
identity, culture is also an important social psychological concept, developed
particularly within cultural and cross-cultural psychology.
Ethnocentrism and prejudice, both established subjects of
social psychological study, have also been important for understanding the
tensions and challenges arising in the post- EU referendum era in the UK.
Social psychology can further help us understand how new
political movements develop and gather momentum. For instance, how did leaving
the EU, from a rather marginal issue, become a political cause that could
mobilise people? And, equally, how can the surge of pro-European movements,
following the Brexit vote, be understood?
To learn more about these topics from an integrated social and psychological perspective, check out
our new module DD317 Advancing Social
Psychology.
A social psychological view of Brexit
In our continuing series of blogs from the DD317 module team, Eleni Andreouli writes about a social psychological view of Brexit:
It was one of the defining moments of 2016 when British people voted to leave the European Union, against the so called ‘political establishment’. Alongside the election of Donald Trump in the US, Brexit is seen as marking the beginning a new political era in Western democracies. In seeking to explain this ‘political earthquake’, several academics and other analysts have pointed to the rise of the far-right, the growth of populism, authoritarianism and xenophobia, and a more general ‘crisis of democracy’ and of liberalism.
There are certainly many threads on could pick up when discussing what Brexit means, its symbolism and its repercussions. What has become clear is that we need to take into account both social and psychological factors to understand these new political movements. For this, we need social psychology. What concepts could be useful in starting to unpack Brexit politics? These are many, but here are some that are particularly important:
Identity, a central social psychological concept, has been extensively used to understand why some social groups voted for Brexit while others did not. Unsurprisingly, national and European identities have taken centre stage in this discussion, but also the role of class identities, gender and ethnicity has been discussed in some depth.
Similarly, the role of cultural values, for example endorsing more liberal or more communitarian value systems, appears to be central in explaining new political orientations in the Brexit era. Like identity, culture is also an important social psychological concept, developed particularly within cultural and cross-cultural psychology.
Ethnocentrism and prejudice, both established subjects of social psychological study, have also been important for understanding the tensions and challenges arising in the post- EU referendum era in the UK.
Social psychology can further help us understand how new political movements develop and gather momentum. For instance, how did leaving the EU, from a rather marginal issue, become a political cause that could mobilise people? And, equally, how can the surge of pro-European movements, following the Brexit vote, be understood?
To learn more about these topics from an integrated social and psychological perspective, check out our new module DD317 Advancing Social Psychology.