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

为什么67%的英国选民在1975年选择留在欧洲经济共同体，而51.9%的人在2016年投票离开欧盟？物质解释是不够的，那些关注国家机构或政治精英的解释也是如此。在这两次公投活动中，亲欧和反欧的倡导者采用了各种国家身份的叙事结构来证明他们各自的立场。因此，有必要对民族主义和认同的演变进行审查。然而，这样做的杰出文学将自己限制在狭窄的近期时间框架内，并完全集中在国家精英演员身上。我的项目将采取一种新颖的方法，结合以演员为中心的自下而上的分析叙事企业家和叙事在伯明翰市的地方一级，与时间的角度，检查他们随着时间的变化，以确定连续性和变化，从长远的角度讲英国和“欧洲”的故事。

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.