As a centuries-old symbol that has been used widely across politics and pop culture, the Union Jack has a complex history, sparking feelings of pride, guilt, and everything in between. With COVID-19 and Brexit shaking up national identity, what is the future for the ‘Cool Britannia’ brand?
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Marco Antonsich is a senior lecturer in human geography at Loughborough University, where he researches Italian national identity. He is the convenor of the Loughborough Nationalism Network.
Michael Skey is a senior lecturer in media and communications at Loughborough University, where he researches national belonging, globalisation, and the sociology of everyday life.
Nick Groom is a professor of English literature at the University of Exeter and author of The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag.
Dr.Freddie Mason received his doctorate from the Royal College of Art in 2019, where he researched the history and futures of viscosity and viscous materiality. The fruits of this work formed a book, The Viscous: Slime, Stickiness, Fondling, Mixtures (New York: Punctum Books 2020). He regularly gives talks, teaches, writes and makes films on matters related and unrelated to his material specialisms. He is currently working on a new book about the history of texture in food and art.
