Sticking Together in ‘Divided Britain’: Talking Brexit in Everyday Family Relationships

Abstract

Despite media headlines depicting the UK as a nation divided over Brexit, we know very little about how Brexit has affected personal relationships. This article addresses gaps in sociological understandings of Brexit and politics more generally by exploring how Brexit is experienced in everyday family relationships, focusing on how people orientate themselves towards discussing Brexit (or not) with their family and friends. Based on qualitative interviews, the article draws upon theories of relationality to explain the tenacity of family ties and to demonstrate how and why families ‘stick together’ despite often having different opinions about politics. It is argued that a conceptualisation of politics as relational is essential to understanding how they are experienced in everyday life.