England Awakes? Trends in National Identity in England

Abstract

Such an imaginary exchange captures a commonly held view about national identity in England (Kumar, 2003). As members of by far the predominant part of the Union, people in England can easily come to regard England and Britain as synonymous with each other. The remainder of the United Kingdom impinges little on their everyday lives or consciences. As a result they can happily and freely describe themselves as English on one occasion, British on another – and mean little or nothing by the difference. It is perhaps little wonder that national identity in England has been described as ‘fuzzy’ (Cohen, 1995).