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

The puzzle of why 67% of UK voters opt to remain in the EEC in 1975, while 51.9% voted to leave the EU
in 2016 remains unresolved. Material explanations are insufficient, so too are those that focus on
national institutions or political elites. During both referendum campaigns, pro- and anti-European
advocates adapted various narrative constructions of national identity to justify their respective
positions. Thus, an examination of the evolution of nationalism and identity is necessary. Existing
literature that does so however, limits itself to narrow and recent timeframes, and focuses exclusively on
national elite actors. My project will take the novel approach of combining an actor-centred, bottom-up
analysis of narrative entrepreneurs and narratives at the local level within the city of Birmingham, with a
temporal perspective which examines their change over time, to identify continuities and changes in
storytelling about Britain and "Europe" in a long-term perspective.