Brexit as ‘politics of division’: social media campaigning after the referendum

Verena K Brändle,Charlotte Galpin,Hans-Jörg Trenz

doi:10.1080/14742837.2021.1928484

Verena K Brändle, Charlotte Galpin + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2021.1928484

Copy DOI

Abstract

ABSTRACT The UK’s referendum on EU membership that resulted in a narrow minority in favour of leave was followed by a leadership vacuum and intense debate about the implementation of the result. The politicization over Brexit resulted in the development of ‘Brexit identities’ of Remainers and Leavers that superseded party identities. We argue that in order to understand how this politicization took place despite a leadership vacuum we firstly need to look beyond the arena of formal party politics to more informal arenas of political contestation on social media, especially Facebook, and secondly understand the linkages between EU and national level politicization that polarised the country around new British-specific identities. Through this, we analyse the ‘politics of division’ not simply as a form of contentious politics driven by political parties, but as a social conflict driven by non-institutionalised groups, grassroots campaigns and ordinary citizens. We find evidence of significant mobilisation that extends beyond the realm of party politics but argue that this mobilisation cannot necessarily be considered entirely ‘grassroots’. Rather, it is driven not just by citizens but also shaped by mainstream and alternative media platforms. The debates cannot, however, be considered purely a form of EU politicization, rather, analysis of Facebook comments shows that politicization over Brexit through these campaigns is primarily contestation over the nature and legitimacy of British democracy. Because of this, we argue that social media is an essential site for the study of EU politicization and political campaigns in general.

Highlights

The political battle over Brexit that continued after the June 2016 referendum intensified the fractures in British politics along ideological and increasingly along identitarian lines
We argue that in order to understand how this politicization took place despite a leadership vacuum we firstly need to look beyond the arena of formal party politics to more informal arenas of political contestation on social media, especially Facebook, and secondly understand the linkages between EU and national level politicization that polarised the country around new British-specific identities
We argue that social media is an essential site for the study of EU politicization and political campaigns in general

Summary

Methods and case selection

Our data collection proceeded in two stages. The first stage of our analysis involved identifying the Facebook campaigns active during the period prior to the trigger of Article 50. This matches the pattern of the referendum where the social media landscape was dominated by the Leave campaigns (Heft et al, 2017). In combination with arguments concerning political-democratic issues, comments in anti-Brexit groups tend to focus less on popular sovereignty, but rather on how to remedy the perceived illegitimate referendum result As such, it transforms into contestation over British democracy and into values-based justifications that make claims on behalf of ‘48%’ or ‘remainers’ as a new political identity. Pro-Brexit commenters, are concerned with the long negotiations, which they tend to consider as sign of political corruption, as an intentional delay to Brexit by government and opposition representatives

Conclusion

Findings

Notes on contributors