Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Coloniality of Meritocracy: From the Anglosphere to Post-Austerity Europe
- 2 Imagining Meritocracy in Unequal Positions
- 3 (Re)Imagining Meritocracy in Unequal Migrations
- 4 The Coloniality of Belonging
- 5 The Coloniality of Brexit
- Conclusion
- Appendix A Interviewing: From Theory to Practice
- Appendix B Sample Composition
- Appendix C Summary of Participants
- Appendix D Interview Topics and Questions
- References
- Index
5 - The Coloniality of Brexit
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2024
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Coloniality of Meritocracy: From the Anglosphere to Post-Austerity Europe
- 2 Imagining Meritocracy in Unequal Positions
- 3 (Re)Imagining Meritocracy in Unequal Migrations
- 4 The Coloniality of Belonging
- 5 The Coloniality of Brexit
- Conclusion
- Appendix A Interviewing: From Theory to Practice
- Appendix B Sample Composition
- Appendix C Summary of Participants
- Appendix D Interview Topics and Questions
- References
- Index
Summary
Diego: They [English colleagues] talked a lot about [Brexit], most of them supported it precisely because they didn't want foreigners, I mean [pause] not with me though, I don't know, is not like they told me “well, Italians”, it was more towards [pause] I don't know, because some [pause] probably some [migrants] take advantage of it, bring their children here, all their family, so they take benefits without having worked and paid taxes, but I don't think they were talking about me, because I’m not here stealing anything, but yes, that's how they saw it [Brexit], the majority supported it because of foreigners.
Author: Did you ever talk about it with an English colleague?
Diego: Yes, he told me “because people from East Europe, especially, bring their children and family here, maybe don't work, ask for all the benefits, they want all the benefits”, it was like in Italy, when Salvini says that people from Africa come to Italy and steal money, it was more or less the same, I haven't found much difference with what Salvini thinks.
Diego, a nurse working in the Midlands, discussed how his English colleagues talked about the Brexit referendum and how these discussions made him feel. He initially stressed his individual deservingness, mentioning the economic and fiscal contribution he made with his work. He was not “stealing” anything from the British welfare, so he felt that these discussions were not about him. Yet, our conversation reveals more complex hierarchies of belonging, which move from neoliberal understandings of individual merit (discussed in Chapter 1) to racialized generalizations. He clarified that his colleagues’ comments were not about Italians, but about “people from East Europe”. At the same time, he stressed that he did not necessarily believe them: they sounded like Matteo Salvini in Italy. This clarification was implicitly classed. Diego was making clear – to me, another middle-class Italian – that he does not belong to the same Italy that buys into the Northern League's anti-immigration rhetoric, as support for the Northern League is frequently ascribed to ‘ignorant’ voters (Westheuser, 2020).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Coloniality and Meritocracy in Unequal EU MigrationsIntersecting Inequalities in Post-2008 Italian Migration, pp. 113 - 138Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2023