City-State Britain: A Counter-Narrative to 'Brexit'. Issue 5 (20th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Welsh, John
• Is Part Of: Geopolitics. Volume 27:Issue 5(2022)
• Page Start: 1497
• Page End: 1527
• Publication Date: 2022-10-20
• Subjects: Geopolitics -- Periodicals; Boundary disputes -- Periodicals; Sovereignty -- Periodicals; 320
• DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2020.1856087
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1465-0045

Abstract

ABSTRACT: 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.