Legal History, the Common La^' and “Englishness” to create an expectation of certain characteristics and attitudes concerning the English and their polity, as contrasted with that of “foreigners” (especially, non-English speaking ones), reflecting widely held views and establishing, extending and perpetuating cultural myths. 217 III At the recent Anglo-French Summit in London, Britain’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was at pains to stress that, like a commercial company, Britain needs to recreate its image. He and his advisors were quite explicit about dismantling that image of Britain beloved byJohn Major: an image of bowler hats and pin stripe trousers, warmbeer, cricket and afternoon tea. These images, we were assured, were misleading. Instead, Mr Blair said he was concerned to put forward the modern face of the country. The venue of the summit was moved away from the dusty Victorian armchairs of Whitehall to the London equivalent t')f Paris’s La Defense, Canary Wharf, with its huge post-modern skyscrapers. Participants sat on designer chairs and fed on designer food. As one newspaper headline put it: “Blair dances chic to chic with French”. “Britain” has alwavs been a complex cultural and constitutional settlement shaped by the interplay of national and international forces. The re-branding of Britain in order to symbolise a more dynamic, open and foreword-looking Britain highlights the multi-dimensional, socially constructed character of national identity and the nation state. It also illustrates the important role played by symbols, invented traditions and the language of history in the manufacture of common identity and community. Law, and its history, are crucial sites for the construction, reconstruction and policing of conflicted meanings of national identity. For law is more than a structure of restraint, setting boundaries within which individuals pursue their self-interest. It is also one of the major processes by which the dominant representations of society are created and justified. These representations of sc')ciety may become accepted as that society itself. Law and its history are, therefore, important languages through which ideas of ethnicity and community are expressed. In what follows, I want to explore some of the complexities, ambiguities and continuities involved in the ongoing process of the creation and recreation of British national identity. In particular, I shall outline some of the ways in which the common law and its history were fabricated against Continental Europe and therefore the Roman law/Civil law tradition whilst simultaneously reliant upon and grounded in Civilian notions of lawand science. On the one hand, the comSee, generally, Vernon, James. “Notes Towards an Introduction.” In Re-Reading the Constitution: Neze Nai-rattves in the Political History of England’s Long Xineteenth-Century, edited by James Vernon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 1-21. Patrice de Beer, The Observer, 9 Nov. 1997 p. 26.
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