Falling out of love with the UK: A visual tour of EU citizens emotions after Brexit and Covid
A team of researchers from 亚博体育官网 has carried out a unique study to explore the emotional wellbeing of EU citizens living in the UK and with care responsibilities both in the UK and in Europe. The team created a visual tour of participants鈥� emotions and found Brexit has caused a profound and lasting impact on EU citizen鈥檚 sense of identity, that has been heightened by the Covid imposed lockdowns.
亚博体育官网 Sociology lecturer, Lucia Ruggerone, and Gray鈥檚 School of Art researcher, Charlie Hackett, are soon to publish their work in a free and fully downloadable digital book. RGView caught up with the research duo, to find out more.
Researcher Lucia Ruggerone, from 亚博体育官网鈥檚 School of Applied Social Sciences, said: 鈥淗aving secured funding from the British Academy in 2021, we set out to explore the emotional wellbeing of EU citizens living in the UK and with care responsibilities during the lockdowns imposed by pandemic. We wanted to understand the feelings brought on by the 鈥榙ouble whammy鈥� of Brexit and Covid, and to find out if and how EU citizens were able to cope, emotionally and practically with their situation and changed citizen status.
鈥淥ur study focused on middle-aged EU citizens, as they represent a 鈥渟andwich generation鈥�, likely to have attachments and bonds within the UK and in their European home country. Those interviewed came from a range of countries including Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Denmark, Switzerland, and Latvia.鈥�
Unlike other social studies that have explored people鈥檚 attitudes post Brexit, participants were sent a mixture of art materials, and asked to produce artworks to show their emotions. The participants artworks were the starting point to open ended discussions on Zoom, and included collages, drawings, photos, a video. One participant even selected a piece of classical music, to represent their mood and feelings during lockdown.
The research identified recurrent themes, representing the feelings and moods that the participants experienced. These included a heightened sense of loss, guilt and vulnerability, among others.
The downbeat atmosphere, reported by many, was due to pandemic and related lockdowns, which had an amplified effect on them because they were already 鈥榮ad鈥� about Brexit and felt rejected by a country they had elected as the 鈥渉ome鈥� of their choice.
Others mentioned the emotion of 鈥榣ove鈥� and talked about their heart being broken as result of Brexit and the lost love for the UK.
Feelings of nostalgia also came out, with many highlighting the sense of displacement caused by Brexit and the pain of the forced isolation from Europe imposed by the lockdown periods. In some of the artworks produced, the houses or specific rooms pictured, signify a sense of entrapment, whilst many hinted at the nostalgia they felt for their native countries.
Another emotion highlighted in the participants鈥� artwork was the feeling of being 鈥榯orn鈥�, between their bonds and duties in the UK and their desire to be close to their families in Europe during the lockdown periods.
Others felt angry with the UK, especially with England, where the majority voted to leave, because they felt rejected by a country they had chosen as their home and where they had invested so much of their energies and skills.
The isolation and lack of social contact brought about by lockdown also caused some to feel extreme boredom and to lose their sense of purpose. Although daily chores helped, others highlighted their low mood and sense of helplessness.