Brexit (update)
Brexit deal be reach by the EU-summit mid-October: this did not happen
Both parties need to be more flexible
- EU issued a statement: the UK had to change their point of view, be more flexible and
compromise more if they want negotiations to proceed
- Johnson made a statement too: the UK is done negotiating and will only negotiate further if
the EU changes its position.
o The UK government had resented its invitation to Michelle Barnier (EU-negotiator) to
London. The UK took Johnson’s statement as posturing. It was posturing because
talks have resumed and the EU has been optimistic about getting a deal before
January 1st.
Keep an eye on these developments: there will definitely be significant developments and
this will be asked on the exam
(Watch TLDR videos)
Multiculturalism
Black people (political sense)= everyone with a dark skin tone, this includes not only African
Americans but also Caribbean people and Asian people (so people from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
…)
Text: Why I stopped talking to white people about race – Reni Eddo-
Lodge
Britain is still profoundly uncomfortable with race and difference.
“Invisible whiteness”: white people […] move through the world blissfully unaware of their own race
until its dominance is called into question.’
White privilege
- You do not need to think about race or be aware about your own race
o This is why white people have a lot of trouble talking about race, because they do
not think thoroughly about it.
White dominance is often considered an American problem, but it is a systemic problem in the UK
(and probably other countries) as well. => Rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement
Summary
The author first tells his own history. He grew up during wwii and had to live a “poor” lifestyle after
the war. He remembers only going once to see a movie (HenryV -> text on the nobility of the English).
He then discovered that he was one of the last children to learn history by the Whig interpretation:
the Anglocentric vision of history. England was Britain. This of course (we know now) is not true, in
the British Iles the Scottish and Welsh asserted their own identities. For many people this came as a
shock and the English were forced to rediscover their identity: England had to detaillering from
Britain (e.g. Gordon Brown banished the figure of Britannia). The author sees the UK as a polyglot
nation, open to all people. It has offered a home to many refugees.
The English have only defined themselves twice in history
1. Between 1580 and 1610: Elizabethan era -> reformation (Britain became Protestant/ break
with Rome) => book of common prayer and authorised version of the bible provided a shared
language and form of worship that unified the nation
Brexit deal be reach by the EU-summit mid-October: this did not happen
Both parties need to be more flexible
- EU issued a statement: the UK had to change their point of view, be more flexible and
compromise more if they want negotiations to proceed
- Johnson made a statement too: the UK is done negotiating and will only negotiate further if
the EU changes its position.
o The UK government had resented its invitation to Michelle Barnier (EU-negotiator) to
London. The UK took Johnson’s statement as posturing. It was posturing because
talks have resumed and the EU has been optimistic about getting a deal before
January 1st.
Keep an eye on these developments: there will definitely be significant developments and
this will be asked on the exam
(Watch TLDR videos)
Multiculturalism
Black people (political sense)= everyone with a dark skin tone, this includes not only African
Americans but also Caribbean people and Asian people (so people from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
…)
Text: Why I stopped talking to white people about race – Reni Eddo-
Lodge
Britain is still profoundly uncomfortable with race and difference.
“Invisible whiteness”: white people […] move through the world blissfully unaware of their own race
until its dominance is called into question.’
White privilege
- You do not need to think about race or be aware about your own race
o This is why white people have a lot of trouble talking about race, because they do
not think thoroughly about it.
White dominance is often considered an American problem, but it is a systemic problem in the UK
(and probably other countries) as well. => Rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement
Summary
The author first tells his own history. He grew up during wwii and had to live a “poor” lifestyle after
the war. He remembers only going once to see a movie (HenryV -> text on the nobility of the English).
He then discovered that he was one of the last children to learn history by the Whig interpretation:
the Anglocentric vision of history. England was Britain. This of course (we know now) is not true, in
the British Iles the Scottish and Welsh asserted their own identities. For many people this came as a
shock and the English were forced to rediscover their identity: England had to detaillering from
Britain (e.g. Gordon Brown banished the figure of Britannia). The author sees the UK as a polyglot
nation, open to all people. It has offered a home to many refugees.
The English have only defined themselves twice in history
1. Between 1580 and 1610: Elizabethan era -> reformation (Britain became Protestant/ break
with Rome) => book of common prayer and authorised version of the bible provided a shared
language and form of worship that unified the nation
