脱欧公投与英国国家身份变迁

Brexit Referendum and National Identity Changes

2016年全民公投及其开启的脱欧进程对英国的国家身份产生了持久深刻的影响,为认识全球化、地区一体化背景下民族国家的身份变迁提供了重要的经验案例。英国入欧40多年来,经历了国家身份的欧洲化和疑欧主义的崛起两个并行不悖的进程。英国新的欧洲身份维度与其固有的国家身份要素出现趋同和趋异,导致脱欧公投,使英国国家身份在欧洲维度发生了革命性变化,也成为英国自身历史发展中重要的"宪法时刻"。脱欧公投在议会主权原则、政治经济与社会共识、中央与地方关系、新的欧洲与全球角色定位等层面带来了制度、观念上的变迁,使英国国家身份面临不断建构与重构的过程。对于历史上长期扮演世界性大国角色的英国而言,能否有效应对脱欧挑战,在新一轮互利、共赢、包容、开放、均衡的全球化共识的形成进程中扮演积极角色,对其国家的政治、经济、社会的未来至关重要。

The Brexit Referendum in 2016 and its subsequent developments have had lasting,profound impacts on the British national identity,which provides a valuable empirical case to examine the evolution of the identity of a nation state in the era of globalization and regional integration.After four decades of EEC/EU membership,the UK has experienced the parallel processes of Europeanization and the rise of Euroscepticism,which witnessed both convergence and divergence between the new European dimension and the intrinsic elements of the traditional British identity.As a result,the Brexit referendum represents a revolutionary break in the European dimension of its national identity,as well as a significant“constitutional moment”in the historical development of the nation.It has brought about significant institutional and ideational changes in several aspects:parliamentary sovereignty,new political,economic and social consensus,devolution,and Britain’s new European and global roles.In this process,British national identity has been constructed and reconstructed continuously.It is proposed that whether the UK,as a global power in history,can respond to the Brexit challenges adequately and play an active role in the consensus making of new wave of globalization characterized with mutual benefit,win-win,inclusiveness,equitableness,and openness,is vital for the nation’s political,economic and social future.