Journal Article

MAKING SENSE OF BREXIT - A HISTORIAN'S VIEW

Daechsel, Markus

2018

Overview

To talk about Britain's momentous decision to leave the European Union after more than 40 years of membership is a somewhat unusual assignment for me. I have come to Karachi as a historian of Pakistan and South Asia, and have never conducted formal academic research into British or European politics. My sole qualification is having witnessed the unfolding drama of Brexit from close-up - and with considerable anxiety about my own personal future. As a German who has made a life in the UK for more than twenty years, I have 'skin in the game', as Nassim Nicholas Taleb recently called the most important qualification for analysing current affairs. In my attempt to at least understand a historical development that I could not influence, I have become an obsessive observer of British politics, with an insatiable appetite for journalistic and scholarly readings on the topic. Eventually, and in a very modest way, I decided to take a public stand in blogs and newspaper interviews.

• Publisher: University of Karachi Area Study Centre for Europe
• Subject: Citizenship / EU membership / Historians / Local elections / Neoliberalism / Political activism