Reluctant Europeans? Narratives of European Integration in the City of Birmingham during the Referendum Campaigns of 2016 and 1975.

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The puzzle of why 67% of UK voters opt to remain in the EEC in 1975, while 51.9% voted to leave the EUin 2016 remains unresolved. Material explanations are insufficient, so too are those that focus onnational institutions or political elites. During both referendum campaigns, pro- and anti-Europeanadvocates adapted various narrative constructions of national identity to justify their respectivepositions. Thus, an examination of the evolution of nationalism and identity is necessary. Existingliterature that does so however, limits itself to narrow and recent timeframes, and focuses exclusively onnational elite actors. My project will take the novel approach of combining an actor-centred, bottom-upanalysis of narrative entrepreneurs and narratives at the local level within the city of Birmingham, with atemporal perspective which examines their change over time, to identify continuities and changes instorytelling about Britain and "Europe" in a long-term perspective.