Societies and Cultures Institute

Development Fund 2022/23: The future of Global Britain

Professor Catriona Pennell (History, HaSS Cornwall) - The future of Global Britain: Youth voices from Overseas Territories

Overview

The UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are at a critical nexus. Diplomatic shifts created by Brexit, the rise of ‘decolonising’ discourses, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and a growing sense felt by many within the UKOTs that they are dispensable to a UK that is repositioning itself on the global stage, have led to renewed questions over their future political viability and structural cohesion. The UKOTs represent a liminal, marginalised position in global affairs in their relationship with the UK and in their sometimes-fractious relations with near-neighbours.

This interdisciplinary project centres on a key policy problem: in facing a series of challenges, and despite being drawn closer to the UK in narrations of a ‘Global Britain’, there is significant uncertainty in the UKOTs about the status of their relationship with the UK. Professor Catriona Pennell, Dr Alasdair Pinkerton (Royal Holloway) and Dr Matthew Benwell (Newcastle) – working in collaboration with Exeter’s Digital Humanities Lab and Policy@Exeter, will focus particularly on the young citizens of the UKOTs whose lives will be shaped by the current agendas and challenges, and yet whose voices are even further marginalised. Catriona and her colleagues seek answers to questions such as: What are the hopes and visions of young people in the UKOTs? How do they see the future relations between their territories and the UK? How significant is the post-colonial context to these viewpoints? Is there scope for new or different collaborations or networks, and, if so, what might these look like?

Make sure to check out the all new blogs page for this project, which features five academics who presented their research in the OTs at a closed workshop organised by Professor Catriona Pennell, Dr Al Pinkerton and Dr Matthew Benwell on Tuesday 23rd May.

Aims & Activities

This project has four interconnected aims:

  1. To collaborate with young citizens of the OTs, representative of their territory’s demographics, to identify their unique perspectives on the current and future challenges impacting the UKOTs.
  2. To co-curate these perspectives into an ‘Alternative White Paper’ using cutting-edge digital storytelling techniques and VR technologies.
  3. To share the ‘Alternative White Paper’ within and between the young citizens of the OTs, and to communicate this ‘document’ with policy makers in the UK and in OT political administrations.
  4. To critically reflect on this research process and the technology used through publications and reports that reflect the project’s interdisciplinary approaches.

Building on a successful pilot project in partnership with the Falkland Islands Government, the SCI Development Grant is providing crucial time, money, and space for Catriona and her colleagues to undertake a series of networking activities with UKOTs partners, digital storytelling and VR professionals, and relevant policy stakeholders through a series of mapping exercises, online and in-person workshops. The aim of this Development Grant is to work toward finalising an ESRC Large Grant application to be submitted within the next 12 months.