Cultural Dissonance - by Iain Quinn (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The first study that shows how the combination of cultural history and contemporary politics produced a Brexit result that was completely predictable.

The Brexit vote continues to be a source of debate and anxiety in Britain. More than ten years on from the referendum, it is possible to see how commentaries before the vote and in its aftermath were flawed by naivete and unawareness as well as ingrained bias that reached across the political divide and into the media. When contemporary opinions are coupled with cultural history, the result of the referendum was completely predictable.

This book also illuminates how the responses to the referendum result confirmed a long distrust that many had felt. Populist arguments were of little consequence by comparison to decades of lived experience that had formed an abiding scepticism in the government and the media. Critically, Brexit did not just expose a divide in society concerning EU membership but unmasked a significant disconnect between politicians, the media and the public.

Cultural Dissonance is a unique study of politicians, journalists, writers and academics that shows the path to the referendum and how the responses to the vote reemphasized the reasons for those who chose to leave the EU. Viewed in context, Brexit was not a surprise.

Review Quotes

An unbiased and unsparing autopsy of a political, social and economic catastrophe. Quinn's book is an alarming reminder that so long as the lessons of Brexit Britain go unlearned, the arrival of another, even greater, catastrophe is only a matter of time.-- "KENNETH WOODS, Artistic Director of English Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Mahler Fest and the Elgar Festival"

Ten years on from the Brexit referendum the divisions that it surfaced, and sustained, show little sign of dissipating. Political commentators continue to rehearse the terrain on which the vote was conducted, seeking to understand its on-going impact on the party political present. Individuals, families, and communities meanwhile deal with its material and psychic implications in a rapidly changing world. There remains a lot of noise about Brexit and perhaps too little analysis of the complex experiences and histories that underpinned it.
In contrast, Iain Quinn takes the long view, foregrounding complexity over presumption and going well beyond a focus on populism and media manipulation. He argues instead that Brexit has a history and was 'decades in the making'. His capacious and lively cultural history considers the role of Thatcher, class, identity, and above all a distrust of politicians as fundamental to what happened in 2016.-- "CLAIR LANGHAMER FBA FRHistS Director of the Institute of Historical Research Professor of Modern History, School of Advanced Study University of London"

Ten years on, what have we learned from Brexit? Why did it happen? How has it shaped us as a nation? Such a moment in history can define a generation and shape a culture; but this decision by the electorate and the division it caused, did not come from nowhere. Over decades, increasing political despondency, a growing mistrust in authority, and media manipulation converged to change the course of British politics, and though entirely predictable, no-one really saw it coming. With a savvy and critical eye, Iain Quinn reflects on the turn of events that led to Brexit and how it was long in the making. There is much to learn here about culture, history and a warning to perhaps be more attentive to the tides and currents in society that shape our political life.'-- "REVD DR VICTORIA JOHNSON, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge"

The great unwashed turn out to be, instead, the great unwatched, in Quinn's brilliant analysis of Brexit Britain. The lesson? Patronise ordinary British people at your peril, and focus frustration instead on a hollowed-out political and media mainstream, all of whom should be locked in a room with this book until they've read it - twice.-- "JEREMY FROST, Human Rights Barrister and former Precentor, Canterbury Cathedral"