The Anglosphere - (Proceedings of the British Academy) by Ben Wellings & Andrew Mycock (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book explores the potential of the Anglosphere - a transnational imagined community of the English-speaking peoples - which came to international prominence in the wake of Brexit. The volume considers how the Anglosphere is redefining global politics in the 21st century and shaping the United Kingdom's future outside of the European Union.

Book Synopsis

The Anglosphere - a transnational imagined community consisting of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK - came to international prominence in the wake of Brexit. The Anglosphere's origins lie in the British Empire and the conflicts of the 20th century. It encompasses an extensive but ill-defined community bonded by language, culture, media, and 'civilisational' heritage founded on the shared beliefs and practices of free-market economics and liberal democracy. Supporters of the Anglosphere argue that it provides a better 'fit' for English-speaking countries at a time when global politics is in a state of flux and under strain from economic crises, conflict and terrorism, and humanitarian disasters.

This edited volume provides the first detailed analyses of the Anglosphere, bringing together leading international academic experts to examine its historical origins and contemporary political, social, economic, military, and cultural manifestations. They reveal that the Anglosphere is underpinned by a range of continuities and discontinuities which are shaped by the location of its five core states. The volume reveals that although the Anglosphere is founded on a common view of the past and the present, it continually seeks to realise a shared future which is never fully attained. The volume thus makes an important contribution to debates about the future of the UK outside of the EU, and the potential for the English-speaking peoples to shape the 21st century.

Review Quotes

The book...is a very welcome avenue for understanding a highly significant international phenomenon, one that should form the basis for further theorizing the synthesized influence of transnationalized ideas, experiences, and practices of class, race, culture, language, economy, and military power in world politics...The concept, history, and current practices, networks, and politics of the Anglosphere are admirably documented in this collection.-- "Inderjeet Pamar, University of London, Perspectives on Politics"

"The book...is a very welcome avenue for understanding a highly significant international phenomenon, one that should form the basis for further theorizing the synthesized influence of transnationalized ideas, experiences, and practices of class, race, culture, language, economy, and military power in world politics...The concept, history, and current practices, networks, and politics of the Anglosphere are admirably documented in this collection." -- Inderjeet Pamar, University of London, Perspectives on Politics

About the Author

Ben Wellings is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. His current research interests focus on the relationship between nationalism, Euroscepticism and the Anglosphere as well as the politics of war memory and commemoration. He is the author of English Nationalism, Brexit and the Anglosphere: wider still and wider (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2019).

Dr Andrew Mycock is a Reader in Politics at the University of Huddersfield. His key research and teaching interests focus on post-imperial identity politics in the UK. He has published widely on the 'Politics of Britishness', English identity politics and devolution, and Brexit. He is co-convenor of the Political Studies Association Britishness Specialist Group. His other research interests include democratic youth engagement, participation, and education. He is currently co-leading a Leverhulme Trust funded project on Lowering the Voting Age in the UK.