%0 Journal Article
%T Brexit, CANZUK, and the legacy of empire
%A Duncan Bell
%A Srdjan Vucetic
%J The British Journal of Politics and International Relations
%@ 1467-856X
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1369148118819070
%X The Brexit referendum triggered a feverish debate over the future of Britain. Critics warn of a country stripped of its international influence, while advocates insist that it marks the beginning of a new phase in British engagement with the world. This article explores a notable development in the ideological debate. Some prominent Brexit supporters endorse the idea of CANZUK, a union of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. We analyse CANZUK as an attempt to develop a fruitful post-Brexit imaginary and as a case of transnational elite advocacy. We begin by placing CANZUK in the context of debates over the ¡®Anglosphere¡¯. We then map the CANZUK advocacy network. Next, we examine past plans for uniting English-speaking polities, tracing the idea back to late 19th-century debates over settler colonialism. We end by sketching some reasons to be sceptical about the project
%K Anglosphere
%K Brexit
%K CANZUK
%K colonialism empire
%K race
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1369148118819070