ABSTRACT
The referendum campaign demonstrated the importance of the media in shaping popular conceptions of the European Union (EU) in the United Kingdom (UK). A related factor in the delivery of the referendum was the emergence of Nigel Farage as a formidable political campaigner and perhaps the most effective communicator in British politics. From a longer-term perspective, the parameters of debate in the UK about the EU had been shaped by a hostile media environment. The analysis draws on post-structuralist discourse theory (DT) and the critical logics approach to social and political explanation derived from this. J. Glynos and D. Howarth provide those working within the field of post-structuralist DT with a clear conceptual framework for the conduct of systematic empirical research into specific questions of importance to the social sciences. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
