Our Island Stories

… about Britishness, about patriotism and national identity.  About these questions, prompted by our recent, slightly embarrassing, outbreak of national pride:

So, do we treat Danny Boyle’s vision of the Isles of Wonder as a requiem for what we value about our country, or a celebration?  Or even, perhaps, a warning and a call to action? Do we allow our ‘normal state of being’ to be reinstalled in the British psyche, without protest, without attempting to hold on to what we briefly experienced?  As Billy [Bragg] asks in his blog, ‘Has the euphoria of the past two weeks has caused a seismic shift in the meta-narrative of Britishness? … Can a new spirit of engaged and transformational patriotism emerge from this experience? One that seeks to build a fairer, more inclusive tomorrow, rather than constantly rehashing a narrow vision of the past?’

This blog is a place where that conversation can continue.

We’ll be inviting contributions that are academic, political, philosophical, personal (or all of the above).  We hope the points of view will be diverse, and the debate forthright and robust, but at all times fair and respectful.