Barnsley Public Lecture: 2012 – The year that revived Britishness

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:24:00 BST

Britishness ‌This Barnsley Public Lecture takes place on Thursday 20 June 2013.

2012 was a momentous year of celebration for many people across the UK. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the British success in both hosting the Olympic Games and winning numerous medals, offered the British public multiple opportunities to celebrate a common sense of Britishness. Being British was cool once more, and a renewed pride in the Union Jack flag led some to claim 2012 was an ‘inclusive year of patriotic spirit’.

This lecture will explore whether 2012 did actually encourage a revival of Britishness. It will explain what is meant by ‘Britishness’ before going on to consider if we really did celebrate the past year as ‘one nation’. It will question whether the monarchy is an institution that brings the British together and if the Olympics was a unique British national moment or just about London.

Dr Andrew Mycock will assess public opinion data, both before and after 2012, to assess if the British people now feel more British. The lecture will also explore the potential that upcoming challenges to this shared sense of Britishness, particularly the Scottish independence referendum and the growth in English nationalism, may mean that 2012 was the last golden summer of Britishness.

Who should attend?

Everyone is welcome to attend, particularly those who are interested in British culture and identity.

About Andrew Mycock

Andrew is a Reader in Politics and has previously held positions at the University of Salford and the University of Manchester. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority and teaches on a range of modules linked to issues of nationalism, citizenship, identity and democracy. He is also responsible for running the highly-regarded work placement programme for Politics students. His research explores issues of citizenship and identity in post-empire states, with a particular focus on the impact on government programmes of citizenship and history education in the UK and the Russian Federation.

His work has been published widely on topics such as the “politics of Britishness”, the legacy of devolution, immigration and multiculturalism, youth citizenship and government youth initiatives such as National Citizen Service. Andrew regularly commentates on local and national media and is also a regular blogger. Read more on Andrew here

Venue

University Campus Barnsley

Church Street

Barnsley

S70 2AN