Here’s the lesson to learn from England’s World Cup joy: shared purpose is key, not shared ancestry | Maya Tudor
For years, we have sought ways to define and achieve national belonging. Surely the team and our attachment to it makes that possible When the
For years, we have sought ways to define and achieve national belonging. Surely the team and our attachment to it makes that possible When the final whistle blew just before dawn, and England had beaten Mexico in that encounter now hailed as a World Cup classic, glasses were raised and strangers embraced in pubs across England that had been granted special permission to stay open.
In living rooms and student flats too, millions of people experienced something increasingly rare in modern Britain: uncomplicated national joy. For a few hours, the endless arguments over the national budget, the revolving door of British prime ministers and the country’s political malaise fell silent.
England’s World Cup victory that night did not erase Britain’s divisions. But watching the team sing their anthem song, Wonderwall, to their cheering supporters reminded us of
something every successful democracy depends upon: pride in a shared national story. Maya Tudor is an associate professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government Continue reading...
The BriefWire