Skip to main content
Rebordering Britain & Britons after Brexit

Acts of European citizenship: how Britons resident in France have been negotiating post-Brexit futures

Abstract

On 23 June 2016 a referendum decided that the United Kingdom (UK) would leave the European Union (EU) - a process popularly termed 'Brexit'.

Withdrawal from the EU will revoke Britons of EU citizenship and its associated rights. For many Britons living in France, Brexit has brought uncertainty over their future rights and lives, with little assurance from the UK Government.

This article argues that Brexit is a moment of rupture in taken-for-granted ideas about citizenship.

Drawing on interviews and ethnographic research among Britons in France, the article examines how they have been responding to Brexit through `acts of citizenship'. It demonstrates how Britons behave as active citizens, activist citizens and consumer-citizens, who variously follow and write scripts as they make claims to future rights and lives in France. The boundaries between these subject positions are increasingly blurred as citizenship is negotiated. The article thus draws links between Brexit, everyday lives and geographical understandings of citizenship.

You might also be interested in :

Local electoral rights for non-French residents? A case-study analysis of British candidates and councillors in French municipal elections
The French Constitution restricts local electoral rights to French nationals and EU citizens. Third country nationals have long been excluded from suffrage as France has maintained a stronghold on nationality and republican values.

Journal

Geography

Author

Fiona Ferbrache (United Kingdom)

Article meta

Country / region covered

Population studied

Year of Publication

Source type