Amidst backward-walking somnambulists

Abstract

This Currents section provides accounts of Britain’s exit (Brexit) or departure from the European Union (EU)—a decision based on a closely won referendum in June 2016, and declared in January 2020 by the Conservative political party. With few exceptions, the views and experiences of those excluded from dominant narratives of “the people” have not been substantially considered in mainstream nor indeed anthropological debates. Contributors to the section offer (auto) ethnographic perspectives on the legacies and implications of empire, nationalism, racism, cultural diversity, gender, and generational divides made explicit in Brexit phenomena. They range from the trolling of women of color, the repercussions of race and racism in academia, culturally diverse perspectives on resilience, the experiences of those from the European mainland who work in England, and views on the English from a former colony and now EU country, the Republic of Ireland.