The eye of the storm

by Anand Menon

It’s been quite a period for the UK in a Changing Europe, charged by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) with disseminating the findings of academic research on UK-EU relations to as wide an audience as possible. It’s been exciting, stressful at times, but, most of all immensely satisfying as we have, I think, helped persuade the non-academic world of the importance of social science.

Love Actually… more expensive than pre-Brexit?

Iain Begg is a Professorial Research Fellow at the European Institute at the London School of Economics and Senior Fellow on the ESRC’s UK in a Changing Europe initiative.

As Lysander put it in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ‘the course of true love never did run smooth’. Now it also has to contend with the consequences of the Brexit vote. The fall in the pound since the referendum means that any commodities for which there is a world price, often denominated in dollars, suddenly became more expensive. This applies to oil and many other raw materials, but also to those two essential ingredients of the engagement ring: gold and diamonds.

Where next for a divided kingdom?

In 2014 the ESRC launched The UK in Changing Europe initiative, to monitor the ever changing and complex relationship between the UK and the EU.

The project enlists a range of experts who provide an authoritative source for independent research on UK-EU relations.

Over the past few months these experts have been kept particularly busy with the EU Referendum (have a read of their analysis pieces). 

Now that the results are in Professor Michael Keating looks at the next steps for the UK, in a piece originally featured in the Irish Times.

The outcome of the referendum has left the UK deeply divided, by age, class, education and territory. These divisions are not new but reflect emerging social cleavages as the old divides of the industrial age disappear. They will shape the response of the political class to the unexpected result.

Anand Menon: spreading the benefits of globalisation

Anand Menon is Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London, and Director of the ESRC-funded research initiative The UK in a Changing Europe. He has written on many aspects of contemporary Europe including the EU and European security.

Why did you pursue an academic career?

My inspiration came largely from my PhD supervisor, Vincent Wright. He had a uniquely positive approach to both research and teaching which was infectious and made the profession appear hugely appealing. He also, of course, in retrospect, had an uncanny knack of avoiding administrative tasks!