Brilliant Brexit conference, University of Southampton, 31 March 2017

Ten days ago (31 March) I attended a brilliant workshop at the Centre for Population Change, University of Southampton: The legacy of Brexit: mobility and citizenship in times of uncertainty. A series of speakers, mainly sociologists, on their Brexit-framed research. Much of it was highly provisional; the research programmes of many of the speakers had only just commenced.

For me, high points included:

• Elizabeth Knott, London School of Economics, doing work on EU residents in the UK post-Brexit: 'For the first time here in this country, I felt like an immigrant'. Another person told her, 'I feel unwelcome and unwanted.'
• Susan Collard, University of Sussex, who ten years ago had interviewed British town-coucillors in rural southwest France. In those day, she said, no one was talking about 'citizenship'; they just wished to participate in local organizing activities. She stressed the difference in the attitudes expressed by activist Brits in that area today.
• Charlotte Galpin, University of Copenhagen (though moving to University of Birmingham in the autumn), spoke of her team's online surveys about people's fears. One sign of their concern was how many responded to their questionnaire: she had expected about 700; they got 1,700.
• Kuba Jablonowski, PhD candidate University of Exeter, excited everyone by describing  how he'd managed to join the inner circle of campaigning group the3million, even travelling with them in their car to Westminster, to present their position. In answer to a question whether he'd shifted from studying to activism,he replied that he gave advice when asked, but shied away from proffering ideas about strategy.

Another said how irritated some Brits abroad were with the label 'migrant, as they saw themselves as simply moving from one part of the EU to another. As one said, "Is an American who moves from New York to LA a migrant?"

Very much look forward to the polished, published versions,

Jeremy MacClancy