The British political discourse in the 1980s on the concepts of nation/state, Europe, security and the nature of international relations

The historical aspects of the political discourse on state and nation will first be analysed. Central historical lines will be drawn. Then, it will be argued that the crucial concept in the dominant discourse historically, the nodal point, is ‘the sovereign parliament’ rather than state or nation. This section also includes an analysis of the way this dominant discourse presents what could be called the political layers in the British state – its spatial organisation and the central political units. Thereupon, the political discourse of the 1980s, the central object of study of the book, will be analysed.