Abstract

The 2016 referendum and the subsequent years of negotiating British withdrawal from the EU occupied a central place in British political life. But how does it fit within the longer-term of UK-EU relations? Brexit was simultaneously a judgment on the experience of membership and an opportunity to create a new mode of interaction. Only by understanding these two facets together, and by contextualising them within the internal situations of the two parties can we start to map out what this imagined future might consist of. Drawing on on-going research as part of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative, this talk will consider the question of whether it is sufficient to optimise within existing structures, especially in the continuing absence of a clear set of British strategic objectives.

Bio

Dr Usherwood has been researching Euroscepticism since the late 1990s. His work considers broad theoretical and practical questions about this phenomenon, as well as more specific work on the UK, on UK-EU relations, on the role of pressure groups and on the media profile of Eurosceptics.

He was formally the Deputy Director of the ESRC's "UK in a Changing Europe" programme from 2017 to 2019, contributing evidence-led, impartial inputs to the debate surrounding the UK's withdrawal from the EU. He blogs regularly on these topics on the Politics@Surrey site, as well as on ideasforeurope and E!Sharp. He also regularly contributes to debates on local, national and international media.

Between 2020 and 2023 he was part of the Horizon 2020-funded project "PROTECT: The right to international protection: A pendulum between globalisation and nativisation?". He has also been Treasurer of UACES, the UK's European Studies association, 2016-19, and co-convenor of the UACES Collaborative Research Network on Euroscepticism since 2011.

He is an active teacher in various areas of politics and EU studies and was awarded the PSA's Sir Bernard Crick Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2012. He also became a HEA National Teaching Fellow in 2015.

Finally, he was a co-investigator on INOTLES "Innovating Teaching and Learning of European Studies", a TEMPUS-funded project (2014-2016), working with partners in five other European countries. Between 2013 and 2015, he was Associate Dean, Learning & Teaching for the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences.

Summary

The Perspectives on Brexit Research Group, in affiliation with CEISR, would like to invite you to our inaugural guest lecture with Professor Simon Usherwood, entitled: Brexit as past, Brexit as future: The changing UK-EU relationship.

This event is open to all UoP staff and invited members of the public. It will be held both in-person and virtually, allowing attendees to participate from anywhere in the world. Attend in person at LE1.01 Milldam Building on the 6th of June from 16:30-18:00pm or tune in online via Zoom.

Join us and embrace this inaugural endeavour of our group as we come together to explore, connect and pave the way for future scholarly discourse on Brexit and beyond!