Book talk: Vron Ware discusses 'Return of a Native' with Nadine El-Enany

“Thinking from the border between parishes as well as between counties, I wanted this book to make a strong case for transnational solidarity and collective action in the face of the global climate emergency. Dismantling the conceptual barriers between urban and rural is a vital step in this direction.” - Vron Ware

The English countryside is often seen as timeless, remote and shielded from the harshest problems of modern life. Yet, as Return of a Native reveals, it is rural England which we must look for the roots of our current crises.

Beginning and ending at the crossroads in north-west Hampshire, with feet planted firmly on the soil, Vron Ware brings her experience of writing about racism, colonial history, war and feminism to show us how to look at the land in a new light. With one eye on the parish and another on the distant horizon, she leaves no stone unturned in this quest to understand how we humans arrived at this place.

From Bronze Age ruins to the fall-out from Brexit; from Captain Swing to The Troggs, Return of a Native is an eco-political reckoning with England’s future as well as its deep history.
"Like a twenty-first-century William Blake, Ware's view of England's 'green and pleasant land' is haunted by dark shadows and damage from its ruined soil, haunted colonial past, and national self-mutilations of Brexit. A brilliant, beautiful & chilling portrait of England's fateful present."

Vron Ware has been writing about racism, gender, history and national identity since the 1980s. Her books include Beyond the Pale: White Women, Racism and History; Out of Whiteness: Color, Politics and Culture; Who Cares about Britishness?; and Military Migrants: Fighting for YOUR Country. She has worked as a journalist, photographer, environmental designer and academic.
Nadine El-Enany has written for numerous publications including the Guardian, Media Diversified, Left Foot Forward and Critical Legal Thinking. She is the author of Bordering Britain: Law, Race and Empire published by Manchester University Press. She recently co-edited After Grenfell: Violence, Resistance and Response. Nadine is Senior Lecturer in Law at Birkbeck School of Law and Co-Director of the Centre for Research on Race and Law.