To what extent can the British outsider status within the EU be explained by a conception of group dynamics?

The exceptional British role within the European Union has been subject of numerous academic studies. So far, researchers have identified structural or cultural matters to be responsible for the emergence and maintenance of the British outsider role. In 2012, Roderick Parkes suggested to view the issue from a different perspective. He claimed that analysing the matter from a group dynamics perspective could enrich the hitherto existing research. Thereby he referred to Norbert Elias’ and John Scotson’s study on a local residential community of old-established and newcomers in England in the 1950s and ‘60s. In this local community newcomers were excluded from village life simply for the reason that they were new to the residential area. This dissertation examines to what extent Elias’ and Scotson’s conception of “The Established and the Outsiders” (1965) is applicable to European group dynamics and can therefore explain the emergence and maintenance of the British outsider status regarding the EU.