Immigration, Identity and Security in the Context of Brexit: Examining Linkages Through the Lens of the Copenhagen School

DOI10.1177/09735984221081560
Published date01 June 2022
Date01 June 2022
Subject MatterArticles
Jadavpur Journal of
International Relations
26(1) 43 –61, 2022
© 2022 Jadavpur University
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DOI: 10.1177/09735984221081560
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Article
Immigration, Identity
and Security in the
Context of Brexit:
Examining Linkages
Through the Lens
of the Copenhagen
School
Preetha Mitra1
Abstract
This article aims to examine the complex interrelationship between
identity and immigration in the United Kingdom (UK) in the context of
Brexit. It analyzes the background of immigration in the UK as well as
multilayered notions of identity and integration. Using the framework
of securitization advanced by the Copenhagen School of thought, this
study questions if and how immigration has been perceived as a threat
to British identity and how this perception has influenced the decision
to leave the European Union. It hypothesizes that anti-immigrant
sentiment, culminating in Brexit, may be the product of securitization in
the societal sphere, namely of identity. This framework aims to provide
an alternative understanding of Brexit by analyzing how perceptions of
threat in the societal sector can influence major political decisions.
Keywords
Brexit, immigration, identity, Copenhagen School
1 Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Corresponding author:
Preetha Mitra, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata,
West Bengal 700032, India.
E-mail: preethamitra@gmail.com
44 Jadavpur Journal of International Relations 26(1)
Introduction
One of the most momentous turning points in contemporary politics
has been the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union
(EU), popularly referred to as Brexit. The decision to part ways with
the EU came as a culmination to a decades-old tumultuous relationship
and, subsequently, left in its wake, a political imbroglio of considerable
proportions. The topic of Brexit has generated a great deal of academic
debate and analysis regarding its causes and possible implications.
The aim of this article, however, is not to delve into an overarching
examination of the sociopolitical and economic background of Brexit
itself, but to focus on the complex interrelationship between
immigration and British identity, which can play a decisive role in
influencing major political decisions.
Immigration was a critical factor in deciding the referendum’s
outcome in which the majority of the British public voted in favor of
breaking away from the EU. The leader of the UK Independence Party
(UKIP), Nigel Farage, stated that immigration would be a prime factor in
the referendum campaign, and that EU’s asylum policy had ‘opened the
door to an exodus of biblical proportions’ (BBC News 2015).
The European migrant crisis of 2015 precipitated fears of mass
immigration and played a part in influencing Brexit. While immigration
has always been one of the key issues influencing UK’s external policies,
in recent years, its impact has intensified. The aim of this article is to
analyze the multilayered interplay between immigration and British
identity and how it can have ramifications for vital political decisions.
Such a study would entail certain pertinent questions—why has
immigration played such an important role in the contemporary political
debate of UK? How is it that despite being a country with a history of
immigration, the antipathy toward immigration would become one of the
foremost determining factors of the country’s political fate? This article
aims to examine whether immigration can be perceived as posing a
threat to British identity in light of contemporary political developments.
It seeks to problematize the issue within a framework of securitization
advanced by the Copenhagen School of thought whose proponents
include Barry Buzan et al. In doing so, it focuses on determining whether
prevalent attitudes toward immigration bespeak a sense of threat
perception among the British public.

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