How do inscriptions of globalisation influence the revival of the ritual year?

Through research conducted in three communities, I will investigate the theory that the 'ritual year'-a calendar of folk customs performed in primarily rural England today-is an expression of modern white British values of geographical and cultural space and place, and not merely a series of historical reenactments. Despite their ancient themes, many rituals are modern creations, representing a general revival of interest in English folk culture in recent decades (Hannant, 2011; Hutton, 1996; Keegan-Phipps and Winter, 2013). Thus far analysis has focussed on commercial folk music and shied away from local field methods. Whilst most folk artefacts depict an exclusive relationship between whiteness and the countryside, the ritual year is the most literal and explicit. It therefore bears the strongest resemblance to current media debates that quantify Britishness by ancestral connection to the landscape, and as such deserves its own distinct research.
Regional customs are not only used to mark chronological progression but to communicate changes in communal values (Bushaway, 1982; Howkins and Merricks, 1993; Hutton, 1996). In this vein, the ritual year could be considered a set of performative narratives on the constitution of community identity. Arguably, the richest data sources to be found within the discourse are therefore not media texts but these communities themselves. Carl Sauer theorised that geography is invariably timesuffused and should be studied interdisciplinarily with history as a result (Speth, 1993). This is especially pertinent to folk geography as it intertwines both real and imagined histories into present-day landscapes. By combining traditional archival research with 'live' methods such as participant observation, landscape reading and interviews, my research will connect the public and sociohistorical with the personal and political in a way that has been previously theorised but not yet locally tested.
Research suggests that the folk revival is a response to the challenges presented to 'Englishness' by globalisation (Keegan-Phipps and Winter, 2013). Following the 2016 EU referendum, news outlets declared that globalisation was over (Elliott, 2016; Swarup, 2016). Analysis has concentrated on age and class divides between Leave and Remain voters, however rural demographics also voted Leave more than average (CLA, 2016). Research has shown that rural and urban communities often constitute nationality differently (Chakraborti and Garland, 2004), but the referendum unquestionably brought discussions about 'Englishness' and the legitimacy of certain national identities into everyday lives. As such, this is the perfect time for field research on the ritual year to begin.
Research Questions
1. How does the re-making of English rural rituals produce imaginaries of place, nation and belonging?