湯姆·福迪：伊麗莎白二世去世，也帶走了大英帝國的餘暉

【文/湯姆·福迪 譯/觀察者網 寧櫟】

英國女王伊麗莎白二世的葬禮，幾乎可以肯定地宣告了英國一個時代的結束。伊麗莎白二世在位70年，這是一個見證英國社會、政治和經濟發生深刻變化的時代，見證大英帝國的解體和英國在世界上地位的改變。這些都成為此後70年英國國內政治壓倒一切的主題，“現實主義”和“帝國認同”之間的拉鋸戰，就相當於圍繞英國“身份”的激烈鬥爭和衝突。特別是在歐盟問題上，英國從否認到接受，最後又以英國退歐的形式再次拒絕。

因此，伊麗莎白二世的去世，正值英國未來面臨前所未有的不確定性之時。這些揮之不去的不安全感來自英國的身份危機，產生了社會和經濟的多方面壓力，不僅導致英國退歐，也導致現在的外交政策完全倒向身份和意識形態，而不是現實或常識。 與此同時，國內政治也急劇右傾。 可以説，“戰後共識”已隨君主而去，未來似乎並不樂觀。

女王葬禮時威斯敏斯特教堂下半旗（來源：法新社）

除了英國衍生的其他盎格魯國家外，英國的國家認同是很特別的，因為它是在帝國主義的外衣下鍛造的，具有一種排他性的普遍主義特徵。英國並不像越南或韓國這樣的國家，以非常具體的民族概念來確定其身份，而是通過在全球範圍內投射價值觀來確定，這當然是帝國和資本主義的合法化。 如果用特拉斯首相的説辭，就會發現它被廣泛地定義為“自由市場”、“民主”和“法治”。 英國支持一種依託在全球霸權地位遺產上的例外論。

但是，當這個帝國不復存在，或者英國越來越無法為大部分本國人民提供服務時，會發生什麼呢？ 這就是英國今天面臨的困境。 帝國在領土和聲望方面的衰落也反映了全球範圍內的經濟變化，這些變化削弱了英國的競爭力，侵蝕了其工業基礎，導致了20世紀70年代和80年代的動盪。 然而，正如撒切爾夫人的政策，解決辦法是積極地把英國推上新自由主義的道路，這不僅摧毀了英國在帝國時代殘餘的工業基礎，而且以純粹的、不受約束的資本主義的名義撕裂了英國社會的和諧結構。

結果，支撐英國國家政治體制的“經濟基礎”也隨之瓦解，其政治認同和共識也會隨之崩潰。 從意識和目標來看，蘇格蘭是一個獨立的國家，為了經濟上的利益，蘇格蘭在18世紀同意與英格蘭合併。 在英帝國蓬勃發展的同時，蘇格蘭與英格蘭聯合的政治意願也很強。 然而，隨着大英帝國的衰落，蘇格蘭賴以繁榮的工業基礎也衰落了，民族主義的支持率大幅上升，最後在2008年全球經濟衰退和隨後卡梅隆首相力推緊縮計劃時爆發了。

雖然2014年蘇格蘭獨立公投沒有成功，但蘇格蘭民族主義的支持率仍然很高，這與英國的帝國懷舊思潮和英國脱歐的政治潮流形成了鮮明對比，這也是在帝國衰落和隨後經濟潮流中處於不利地位的“落後”社區的傾向。英國經濟從未真正從金融危機中復甦，自那以來，英國以國家身份認同的名義，做出越來越多災難性的經濟選擇，宣佈了侵略性的外交政策，其中包括英國退歐、新冠疫情危機和升級烏克蘭戰爭，使英國陷入政治兩極分化和不穩定的惡性循環。

伊麗莎白二世去世前幾天，特拉斯當了首相，再也沒有比這更好的象徵了。它代表着一個時代的結束，一個新時代的開啓。 伊麗莎白二世是英國戰後轉型和帝國衰落的象徵。 然而，總的來説，兩者都很慘淡。 英國是一個還沒有接受帝國衰落的國家，還在激烈地試圖復辟。同樣不用説，伊麗莎白二世的個人聲望、遺產和軟實力永遠不會被查爾斯三世真正實現。在查爾斯三世治下，英國將繼續看不到未來、在當下陷入停滯、將繼續夢想過去的輝煌。

（本文系作者賜稿，英文原文見下頁。）

Britain’s New Uncertain Era

By Tom Fowdy

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II yesterday almost certainly formalized the end of an era for Britain, one which through her reign spanned 70 years. It is an era which marked a profound social, political and economic shift in Britain, marking the dismantling of an Empire and a change in its place in the world. All of this become an overriding theme of domestic politics in the seven decades that followed, which might be described as a tug of war between “pragmatism” and the lingering of “Imperial identity”, amounting to intense struggles and conflict over where Britain “belongs”, particularly in reference to Europe, swinging from denial, to acceptance, and even outright rejection in the form of Brexit.

It is such that Elizabeth’s passing has come at a time where uncertainties surrounding Britain’s future are in fact higher than ever before, because these lingering insecurities that have arose within the country’s identity have become manifold through social and economic pressures, leading to not only Britain’s departure from the European Union, but also a foreign policy now based purely on identity and ideology, than pragmatism or common sense. In conjunction with this, domestic politics has swerved sharply to the right. The “post-war consensus” so to speak, has figuratively passed away with the Monarch, and the future doesn’t seem optimistic.

Britain’s national identity is unique from many other countries (excluding the other Anglosphere states it created) in that was forged in the mantle of Imperialism itself, and has a result, an exclusively universalist character. Britain does not categorize its belonging in very specific ethnic terms, in the way a nation such as Vietnam or Korea might, but through a projection of values on a global scale which of course were a legitimation of Empire and capitalism. If you follow the rhetoric of Liz Truss, it is broadly defined in terms of “free markets”, “democracy” and “the rule of law”. Britain espouses a form of exceptionalism attached to a legacy of global dominance.

But what happens of course, when that empire no longer exists, or for that matter Britain becomes increasingly unable to deliver for large portions of its own people? This is the dilemma that the UK faces today. The decline of the Empire in terms of territory and prestige also mirrored economic changes on a global scale which diminished Britain’s competitiveness and eroded its industrial base, leading to the upheavals of the 1970s and 1980s. The solution, however, as embodied by Margaret Thatcher, was to aggressively shoehorn the country onto the pathway of neoliberalism which not only destroyed the remnants Britain’s Imperial era industrial base, but also torn up the fabric of social harmony in the name of pure, unbridled capitalism.

And it is such that the “economic foundations” which underpin a given country’s ruling regime unravels, that its political identity and consensus also start to unravel with it. Take for example, Scotland. For all intents and purposes, Scotland is a separate nation, which for economic practicality, agreed to become a single-state with England in the 18th century. Whilst the Empire boomed, political consent for the union with England was strong. However, as the British Empire declined, and the industrial underpinning which Scotland thrived on also declined, support for Scottish nationalism surged existentially, and especially so given the turning points of the global recession of 2008 and the David Camera era austerity program which followed.

Whilst the initial Scottish independence referendum in 2014 did not succeed, support for Scottish Nationalism has nonetheless remained high, and comes in contrast to the polar opposite political current of British Imperial nostalgia and Brexit within England itself, again a product of “left behind” communities who have been on the disadvantageous end of Britain’s Imperial decline and its subsequent economic choices. As Britain’s economy has never truly recovered from the financial crisis, and has made more and more disastrous economic choices since, made of course in the name of identity which promulgates an aggressive foreign policy, of which include Brexit, covid-19 mismanagement and choosing to escalate the war in Ukraine, locking the country in a vicious cycle of more political polarization and destabilization.

Never was this better symbolized by the fact that Liz Truss is now Prime Minister, and Queen Elizabeth II happened to die just days later. It represents the end of one era, and the opening of a new one. Queen Elizabeth was a symbol of Britain’s post-war transformation and Imperial decline. Yet all in all, none of it is for the better. The United Kingdom is a nation that has not come to terms with the decline of empire and is drastically attempting to compensate for such. It also goes without saying that the Elizabeth’s personal popularity, legacy and soft-power will never be truly fulfilled by her son Charles III, which will entrench a nation who unable to look forwards and nothing going for it in the present, will continue to dream of past glories.

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