To make sense of Brexit, it seems to me that we have to start by clarifying what was the actual content and relevance of the ‘Brexit’ deal agreed between the United Kingdom and the European Union (section I), and how that deal was essential in allowing the British Prime Minister to shape the terms of the referendum debate (section II). The causes of the victory of leave are many and complex; it is highly reductionistic (and precipitated) to conclude that leavers are rabid nationalists; this entails not only a confused understanding of what nationalism is about, but also misunderstands both how the migration issue is shaping political debate in Britain and in the rest of Europe (section III) and the weight that the ongoing mutation of the European Union is likely to have had in the outcome (section IV). For Brexit to be turned into a democratic shock, with the potential of leading to a fairer and more democratic European Union and United Kingdom, it is necessary to avoid Brexit as usual and make of Brexit an incentive to redefine what European integration is and should be (section V).

SCARICA IL DOCUMENTO INTEGRALE