| ID | 188535 |
| Title Proper | City-State Britain: |
| Other Title Information | A Counter-Narrative to ‘Brexit’ |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Welsh, John |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | The incipient crisis of the British state, which seems so apparent in ‘Brexit’, the move towards Scottish Independence, and the succession of minority governments, ought to be understood as a historical conjuncture. This conjuncture has entailed a profound reconfiguration of the social relations that constitute the British state-territory in the context of the world-system, making of it something as geographical as it is historical. Understanding this reconfiguration in novel, innovative, critical, productive or even sublative ways seems therefore to be a priority in the study of post-Brexit British politics and global political economy. Furthermore, as ‘Brexit’ has become the dominant narrativization of the objective conditions and subjective perceptions of this crisis, a convincing counter-narrative must be conceived for critical thinking and praxis. In the struggle over how to define our crisis in the British state, and drawing upon Critical Urban Theory, World-System Analysis, and poststructuralist political thought, the paper introduces the concept of the axiomatic city-state. This concept offers not merely an alternative empirical characterisation of the reconfigured British state, but a means of conceptualising broader transformations across the world-system at large. More importantly, it suggests a politically potent means for exploring critical vocabularies, strategies, and perhaps organization into the near future. |
| `In' analytical Note | Geopolitics Vol. 27, No.5; Oct-Dec 2022: p.1497-1527 |
| Journal Source | Geopolitics Vol: 27 No 5 |
| Key Words | City-State Britain ; Counter-Narrative to ‘Brexit |