Pride or shame? British history is too complex to be seen in such glib terms
Why Read This
What Makes This Article Worth Your Time
Summary
What This Article Is About
Kenan Malik examines conservative outrage over the British Social Attitudes report revealing a 22-point decline in pride about British history since 2013. While two-thirds still feel proud, researchers John Curtis and Alex Scholes document a broader shift toward civic nationalism—defining Britishness through citizenship and respect for institutions rather than ancestry—alongside declining support for jingoistic expressions and increasing willingness to critically examine Britain’s imperial past.
Malik argues that framing history through simple pride or shame is intellectually bankrupt. British history contains contradictory threads—from the Peterloo massacre and brutal colonial suppression to working-class suffrage movements and anti-fascist resistance at Cable Street. He contends that history consists of contested narratives demanding we choose which values to uphold today. The real concern, he suggests, isn’t falling pride but rather conservative critics’ insistence on maintaining apologetic historical narratives to shore up their vision of contemporary Britain’s self-confidence.
Key Points
Main Takeaways
Shift Toward Civic Nationalism
Only a minority now believes British ancestry is necessary for being “truly British,” with 80% prioritizing citizenship, respect for institutions, and feeling British over ethnic considerations.
Declining Historical Pride
Pride in British history fell 22 points between 2013 and recent surveys, though nearly two-thirds still express pride, reflecting broader social liberalization trends tracked over decades.
Rejection of Jingoistic Pride
Fewer Britons express unconditional national loyalty or believe “Britain, right or wrong,” indicating movement away from reflexive patriotism toward more critical self-examination about national identity.
Conservative Narrative Defense
Critics like Nigel Biggar argue reassessing colonialism threatens British self-confidence today, revealing their concern lies not with historical accuracy but maintaining apologetic narratives supporting present-day political agendas.
Pre-BLM Attitude Shifts
YouGov polling shows pride in empire nearly halved between 2014-2020 before Black Lives Matter protests, undermining claims that “woke” activism alone caused declining historical pride.
History as Contested Terrain
Malik argues British history contains contradictory threads—Peterloo and Cable Street, colonial brutality and Chartist solidarity—making simple pride or shame intellectually insufficient for understanding national identity formation.
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Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
Complexity Beyond Binary Emotions
The central argument challenges the reductionist framework of assessing national history through pride or shame, proposing instead that British history comprises contradictory threads requiring moral discernment about which values merit preservation. Malik contends that declining pride reflects healthy skepticism toward jingoistic nationalism and whitewashed narratives, while conservative panic reveals instrumental use of history to defend contemporary political positions rather than genuine concern for historical understanding.
Purpose
Defend Nuanced Historical Engagement
Malik writes to counter conservative narratives portraying critical historical reassessment as “woke brainwashing” that corrodes national self-confidence. By demonstrating that historical complexity demands engagement beyond simple emotional responses, he advocates for viewing Britain’s shift toward civic nationalism and critical historical consciousness as intellectual maturation rather than cultural decline, positioning the debate as fundamentally about which vision of contemporary Britain should prevail.
Structure
Data-Critique-Alternative Framework
Expository → Critical Analysis → Normative Argument. Opens by presenting BSA report findings and conservative outrage, establishes the shift toward civic nationalism and declining jingoism as broader social liberalization. Transitions to critiquing both cartoonish historical revisionism and conservative apologetics, then presents concrete historical examples (Peterloo, Indian mutiny, Cable Street, miners’ strike) demonstrating inherent contradictions. Concludes by reframing the issue from emotional responses to value-based choices about contemporary national identity.
Tone
Measured, Critical & Intellectually Rigorous
Malik adopts an analytical stance balancing empirical data presentation with philosophical questioning, maintaining intellectual authority while avoiding polemical excess. He acknowledges legitimate concerns about cartoonish historical revisionism even while defending critical reassessment, demonstrating nuanced thinking absent from polarized debate. His rhetorical questions (“Why should I be proud of the Peterloo massacre?”) invite readers to examine assumptions, while concrete historical examples ground abstract arguments in tangible events demanding moral reckoning.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
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Tough Words
Challenging Vocabulary
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Superficially smooth and persuasive but lacking depth, sincerity, or careful thought; offering easy answers to complex questions without genuine engagement with their intricacies.
“Pride or shame? British history is too complex to be seen in such glib terms”
Exaggerated, simplified, or caricatured in a way that lacks nuance or realism; presenting complex subjects in oversimplified, two-dimensional manner that distorts reality.
“Such campaigns can eschew moral complexities and present history in a cartoonish fashion.”
Formal written defenses or justifications of controversial doctrines, policies, or actions; arguments aimed at defending or explaining away problematic aspects of something.
“…their desire to maintain the old historical narratives, including the old apologias for colonialism…”
To cause, produce, or give rise to a feeling, situation, or condition; to bring about or generate something, particularly emotions or abstract states.
“…does it make sense to think of history in simple terms as something that should engender pride or shame?”
Deserving hatred and contempt; morally reprehensible or worthy of scorn due to wickedness, meanness, or evil character; utterly detestable in nature or action.
“History…consists of many threads, some admirable, others despicable, yet others a mixture of the two.”
Members of a 19th-century British working-class movement for political reform, named after the People’s Charter demanding universal male suffrage, secret ballots, and democratic representation.
“…for the Chartists who supported Indians fighting British rule because…the Indian struggle was no different to struggles for freedom by European peoples…”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1According to the British Social Attitudes report discussed in the article, the majority of Britons now believe that possessing British ancestry is essential to being “truly British.”
2According to Nigel Biggar as quoted in the article, what is actually “at stake” in debates about British colonial history?
3Which sentence best captures Malik’s central argument about how we should approach British history?
4Based on the article’s discussion of polling data and historical attitudes, determine whether each statement is true or false.
YouGov polling showed that pride in the British empire had nearly halved between 2014 and 2020, before the Black Lives Matter protests occurred.
According to Ipsos Mori polling conducted after BLM demonstrations, more people expressed shame about the British empire than felt pride in it.
The article mentions that the Daily Mail published an editorial titled “Hurrah for the Blackshirts!” in 1934, supporting Oswald Mosley’s fascist movement.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5Based on Malik’s pairing of historical examples (Peterloo massacre with suffragettes, Indian mutiny suppression with Chartist solidarity, Mosley’s Blackshirts with Cable Street resistance), what can be inferred about his view of how historical narrative should function?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Civic nationalism defines national belonging through citizenship, respect for political institutions and laws, and feeling British—criteria accessible to anyone regardless of ancestry. Ethnic nationalism bases belonging on bloodline or ancestry, creating exclusionary criteria. The BSA report shows Britain shifting decisively toward civic nationalism, with only a minority now believing British ancestry is necessary for being “truly British,” while about 80% prioritize civic criteria. This represents broader social liberalization and reflects a more inclusive, less racially-defined conception of national identity.
Malik cites Nigel Biggar’s admission that what’s “at stake” is “the self-perception and self-confidence of the British today,” revealing conservatives use historical narratives to shore up contemporary political positions rather than pursuing historical truth. They resist critical reassessment not because new scholarship is inaccurate, but because questioning colonial apologetics threatens their vision of modern Britain’s identity. This instrumentalization prioritizes psychological comfort over historical complexity, using the past as a tool for present-day ideological battles about national self-conception.
The Peterloo massacre—where cavalrymen charged 60,000 working-class protesters demanding democracy, killing at least 18—illustrates British state violence against its own citizens pursuing democratic rights. Malik pairs this with admiration for suffrage movement pioneers, demonstrating that British history contains both brutal suppression and heroic resistance. This pairing challenges simplistic pride by showing the nation’s democratic traditions emerged through struggle against, not emanation from, existing power structures. It exemplifies his argument that history presents contested values rather than unified national character deserving blanket pride.
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This article is rated Advanced because it demands engagement with sophisticated political philosophy about nationalism, historiography, and collective memory. Readers must track Malik’s critique of both conservative apologetics and cartoonish revisionism while following his nuanced argument about contested historical narratives. The piece requires understanding abstract concepts like civic versus ethnic nationalism, interpreting polling data within broader social trends, and recognizing how the article’s structure (pairing contradictory historical examples) supports its philosophical claims about history’s complexity and role in contemporary identity politics.
The Chartists’ internationalist solidarity—supporting Indians fighting British rule because “the Indian struggle was no different to struggles for freedom by European peoples”—demonstrates an alternative British tradition prioritizing universal democratic principles over nationalist loyalty. This directly challenges “Britain, right or wrong” jingoism by showing historical precedent for Britons opposing their own government’s imperial actions on principled grounds. It illustrates Malik’s argument that British identity has always been contested terrain between competing value systems, not a unified tradition demanding unconditional pride or reflexive national defense.
The Ultimate Reading Course covers 9 RC question types: Multiple Choice, True/False, Multi-Statement T/F, Text Highlight, Fill in the Blanks, Matching, Sequencing, Error Spotting, and Short Answer. This comprehensive coverage prepares you for any reading comprehension format you might encounter.
