Brexit in the Discourse of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom

Student: Kazakov Ilia

Supervisor: Vladimir A. Ryzhkov

Faculty: Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs

Educational Programme: International Relations: European and Asian Studies (Master)

Year of Graduation: 2020

In the Master’s dissertation, the discourse of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom in relation to Brexit is analysed. The work was written in line with the linguistic turn in the constructivist theory of international relations. Intertextual discourse analysis of primary sources is used: texts of speeches by British conservative politicians and parliamentary debates. The first chapter examines the theoretical and methodological foundations of the research: the important features of the research paradigm and the main method. The second chapter analyses the discursive representations used by British politicians regarding Brexit. The general logic of the development of the discourse of British conservatives regarding Brexit is revealed: at first, the discourse was dominated by representations related to economic liberalism, but eventually economic nationalism and populism gained greater significance. This trend is related to the historical context and it is shown how the changes in party ideological discourse determined the changes in practical politics.

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