the english and the british

student presentation

1. The English and the British Bernard Crick A presentation by Lucy Mccoulough and Ayako Sato

2. “I am a citizen of a country with no agreed colloquial name” The chapter is about the difference between being English and British, he starts by talking about the different names for the nations -United Kingdom; Britain; England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales etc

3. Englishness “The sense of identity of the English is almost as difficult to specify as the name of the state.” -”think they have the same general characteristics”, but hard to identify. For example no language specific to England. Importance of toleration to the English in history, to hold the United Kingdom together politics had to be tolerant of the other nations and differences. -”then it would follow that any deliberate cultivation by the English… of a cult of nationalism would be disruptive”. -referring to 19 th century. -suggests imperialism was substitute for English nationalism in the past. Says that tolerance became a stereotype of the English since 18 th century.

4. Englishness cont. “The cult of ‘the Gentleman’”, contains clichés of the English character - eg love of property but respect for persons; refusal to let experts decide but willingness to take advice; cult of good manners etc “The cult of the English gentleman had a great integrative or restraining effect (depending on one’s viewpoint) on the actual and potential leadership elites of the other three nations”. -but marginalised any tradition of citizenship in England in marked contrast to Scotland and Ireland. Nationalism = belief that one’s country is superior -there is non-separatist nationalism, multi-nation states can exist without trying to make one national consciousness ( eg Britain)

5. Britishness There can be a mistake of nationalism and patriotism, some forget that the United Kingdom is a multi-nation state, and so there can’t be a British nationalism. “ ‘British’ is a political and legal concept best applied to the institutions of the United Kingdom state, to common citizenship and common political arrangements. It is not a cultural term, nor does it correspond to any real sense of a nation.” - eg British citizen but nationality English/ Scottish/ etc Says that many Scottish have sense of dual identity, feel British and Scottish -many English do not feel this, “to be British is simply to be English” History taught in English schools faces difficulty- “English is not British and yet is much affected by the whole contexts of these islands”.

6. English Ideology Mostly about the history of Scotland and England “An oddly specific aspect of the English national tradition is usually and unequivocally put forward as British”- that of parliamentary sovereignty - in past needed to ensure unity of UK Power was divided between King, Lords and Commons, “arguments were not about who should wield that power but about the relative balance of powers”. -England and Scotland had the same king, Scottish parliament agreed to unity, became one state with parliamentary sovereignty with separate nations.

7. Pluralism “ The confusion of sovereignty with power is common” – sovereign bodies can lack power and there can be much, sometimes more, elsewhere. Most power of UK is concentrated in London, policies often seen to be unresponsive to local and regional needs throughout the nations. -says this is old-fashioned UK is a multi-nation state and highly pluralistic society, political power also pluralistic (different groups considered and different agencies needed to carry policies out). Parliamentary Sovereignty had historical function to hold nations of UK together -ruling class still had to understand and tolerate some autonomy of other nations -says this is now a threat to the union, there is a need for federal institutions but also a recognition of diversity in them. Increased involvement with the European court = concentration of power that restrains the country We shouldn’t try to “infuse everything that is English into the common property of British”