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. 2020 Jan;71(1):74-80.
doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12710. Epub 2019 Nov 17.

Remainers are nostalgic too: An exploration of attitudes towards the past and Brexit preferences

Lindsay Richards  1 , Anthony Heath  1 , Gabriella Elgenius  2
Affiliations

Remainers are nostalgic too: An exploration of attitudes towards the past and Brexit preferences

Lindsay Richards et al. Br J Sociol. 2020 Jan.

Abstract

Nostalgia had a prominent place in the Brexit Referendum campaign, epitomized by Nigel Farage carrying around with him an old-fashioned blue British passport on the campaign trail. In this paper, we seek to examine British attitudes towards the past through a new survey instrument administered online in July and August 2018 (N = 3,000). We empirically establish two dimensions of nostalgia that are differentially associated with political preferences. We conclude that it is the substance of the nostalgia that matters, not the looking towards the past per se.

Keywords: Brexit; egalitarian nostalgia; ethnic exclusion; social change; traditional nostalgia.

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References

REFERENCES

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