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

1975年，67%的英国选民选择留在欧洲经济共同体，而2016年，51.9%的英国选民选择离开欧盟，这一谜团至今仍未解开。物质解释是不够的，那些聚焦于国家机构或政治精英的解释也是不够的。在两次公投运动中，亲欧派和反欧派都采用了不同的国家认同叙事结构来为各自的立场辩护。因此，对民族主义和身份的演变进行研究是必要的。然而，现有的文献将自己限制在狭窄和最近的时间框架内，并且只关注国家精英演员。我的项目将采用一种新颖的方法，将以演员为中心，自下而上的叙事企业家和伯明翰市地方层面的叙事结合起来，并采用非时间性的视角来考察它们随时间的变化，以长期的角度来确定关于英国和“欧洲”的故事的连续性和变化。

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.