Brexit disruption and transborder leadership in Europe

John Gibney*, John Shutt, Joyce Liddle

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
40 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The turbulence of Brexit threatens to undermine England–European Union (EU) transborder cooperation at the subnational scale. This paper discusses the lived experience of city and regional leaders involved in developing cross-European cooperation during the early phase of the Brexit ‘project’. It contributes to the idea of relational leadership as a framing device for studying leadership in transborder cooperation in the England–EU subnational setting, and surfaces challenges faced by subnational leaders in transborder cooperation during significant policy turbulence. Two main findings of the research have wider relevance for emerging city and regional (place) leadership theory and practice. First, the unanticipated shock caused by Brexit to the supra-national policy environment is impacting significantly on subnational leaders’ ability to maintain good transborder working relationships; and second, continuing non-prejudicial dialogue and meaningful conversations between subnational partners are an antidote to the negative legacies of such policy disruption.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1596-1608
Number of pages13
JournalRegional Studies
Volume55
Issue number9
Early online date25 Mar 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Sept 2021

Keywords

  • Brexit
  • relational leadership
  • transborder cooperation
  • dialogue

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