When Polanyi met Farage: Market fundamentalism, economic nationalism, and Britain’s exit from the European Union
| Published date | 01 August 2017 |
| Date | 01 August 2017 |
| Author | Jonathan Hopkin |
| DOI | 10.1177/1369148117710894 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Articles - Part One |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117710894
The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations
2017, Vol. 19(3) 465 –478
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1369148117710894
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When Polanyi met Farage:
Market fundamentalism,
economic nationalism,
and Britain’s exit from
the European Union
Jonathan Hopkin
Abstract
The vote for Brexit is not an isolated event, but part of a wave of populist, anti-elite revolts: a new
‘anti-system’ politics Western democracies are experiencing, shaking the existing consensus around
economic integration, free markets and liberal values. This wave takes a variety of forms, but has
in common a robust, even violent, rejection of the mainstream political elites and their values, and
a demand for governments to act on the sources of social and economic distress and inequality.
This article views Brexit as a part of this new anti-system politics, a reaction to the decline in
ideological competition in democracies and the increasing impotence of politicians to address the
upheavals wrought by global free market capitalism. This reaction has become particularly acute
after the financial crisis of the late 2000s, which affected Britain disproportionately, and the failure
of austerity policies to revive growth, crystallising the ineffectiveness of existing policies to deal
with economic stagnation and cultural change. This policy failure is compounded by a perceived
refusal of politicians to engage with the broader public and a lack of real choice between the
mainstream political parties. The article will present evidence that a failed policy consensus, a rise
in inequality and a decline in the representativeness of political elites, rather than a resurgence of
intolerance or xenophobia, are the principal causes of the Brexit vote.
Keywords
Brexit, economic nationalism, European Union, markets, Polanyi, protectionism
Introduction
The UK referendum on European Union (EU) membership rolled a variety of different
issues into one simple question: Should the UK remain in the EU, or leave it? This article
argues that although the Leave campaign brought together radically different and largely
Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
Corresponding author:
Jonathan Hopkin, Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science,
Houghton St, London WC2A 2AE, UK.
Email: J.R.Hopkin@lse.ac.uk
710894BPI0010.1177/1369148117710894The British Journal of Politics and International RelationsHopkin
research-article2017
Special Issue Article
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