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Brexit’s identity politics and the question of subjectivity

Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society volume 24, pages 452–472 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

This article is about the socially divisive consequences of the UK’s 2016 referendum on membership in the European Union. Rather than redressing the country’s long-standing class divisions, the referendum has exacerbated them by fuelling negative stereotypes and mutual accusations between Leave and Remain supporters. Drawing on psychoanalytic theories of subjectivity, the article argues that support for Leave and Remain is structured by circulations of affect, fantasies of the good life and psychic investments in different experiences of immigration, nationalism, and social and economic inequality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London, 7th Floor, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7NF, UK

    Nikolay Mintchev & Henrietta L. Moore

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  1. Nikolay Mintchev
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  2. Henrietta L. Moore
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Correspondence to Nikolay Mintchev.

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Mintchev, N., Moore, H.L. Brexit’s identity politics and the question of subjectivity. Psychoanal Cult Soc 24, 452–472 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41282-019-00139-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41282-019-00139-3

Keywords

  • affect
  • immigration
  • nationalism
  • inequality
  • ressentiment