TY - JOUR
T1 - UK state identity-making and British overseas territories’ environments in times of ecological crisis and geopolitical change
AU - Harmer, N
AU - Bailey, I
AU - Hart, N
PY - 2022/5/1
Y1 - 2022/5/1
N2 - Analysis of state identity constructions can provide important insights into the
ideologies, values, ambitions and policies of influential state actors. Existing research on state
identities has focused mainly on how such identities are constructed and utilised within
domestic politics or conventional inter-state/international relations but limited attention has
been paid to how states construct their identities in relation to, and through, overseas territories
that occupy liminal positions of sovereignty. This article addresses this gap by investigating
how state actors have discursively constructed the UK’s identities through the lens of
environmental protection in the UK’s overseas territories. It analyses UK parliamentary debate
between 2010 and 2018, identifying how territory environments were enrolled in the
production of multiple state identities, representing differing spatial imaginaries of the UK, its
power and responsibilities at a time of environmental crisis and the search to define the UK’s
post-Brexit status and roles. This shape-shifting capacity underscores how states may draw on
a multiplicity of personas in response to different circumstances that become particularly
noticeable where uncertainty and ambiguity exist around the ethics, power relations and
responsibilities involved in relations with overseas territories in an ostensibly postcolonial era.
AB - Analysis of state identity constructions can provide important insights into the
ideologies, values, ambitions and policies of influential state actors. Existing research on state
identities has focused mainly on how such identities are constructed and utilised within
domestic politics or conventional inter-state/international relations but limited attention has
been paid to how states construct their identities in relation to, and through, overseas territories
that occupy liminal positions of sovereignty. This article addresses this gap by investigating
how state actors have discursively constructed the UK’s identities through the lens of
environmental protection in the UK’s overseas territories. It analyses UK parliamentary debate
between 2010 and 2018, identifying how territory environments were enrolled in the
production of multiple state identities, representing differing spatial imaginaries of the UK, its
power and responsibilities at a time of environmental crisis and the search to define the UK’s
post-Brexit status and roles. This shape-shifting capacity underscores how states may draw on
a multiplicity of personas in response to different circumstances that become particularly
noticeable where uncertainty and ambiguity exist around the ethics, power relations and
responsibilities involved in relations with overseas territories in an ostensibly postcolonial era.
UR - https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/context/gees-research/article/1389/viewcontent/Harmer_20Bailey_20and_20Hart_20_2022__20UK_state_identity_making_and_British_overseas_territories.pdf
M3 - Article
VL - 0
JO - Small States and Territories
JF - Small States and Territories
IS - 0
ER -