Political Activism and Agency under Austerity and Brexit

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to better understand the dynamics that are (re-)shaping the political environment of the UK where austerity has widened inequalities across income, wealth, and geographies. It outlines the specific nature of austerity in the UK by addressing those policies and discourses that have led to welfare retrenchment at a time when constraints on the agency of various vulnerable groups have increased. Drawing upon unique survey data from the UK with approximately 2000 participants, the chapter analyses attitudes towards austerity and the disposition that UK citizens have towards specific repertoires of action such as protest and demonstration. It also focuses upon the referendum on membership of the European Union which set in motion a chain of events that continues to dominate the political discourse of the UK. Drawing upon the findings the chapter provides a timely and novel insight into the political fault lines that have come to define the politics of Brexit Britain.