UCLA International Institute, June 27, 2016 — Dominic Thomas, department chair and Madeleine L. Letessier Professor of the UCLA Department of French and Francophone Studies, has been interviewed on the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom by a number of media outlets over the past several days.
Thomas, whose research interests include immigration, racism, globalization and the European Union, offered a number of thoughtful observations, among them:
“The ‘leave’ camp was organized around fear of immigration, Islam, globalization, China. The other side found themselves on the defensive trying to counter the argument of fear. It’s very difficult to challenge people’s fears. There is deep-seated racism in this debate that gets cloaked in national identity.” (
Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2016)
“I think that this is going to play not just into the Spanish vote but into just about everything single election that is going to take place in Europe over the coming year and a half and it will also shape the U.S. election that is coming up now.” (
CNN International, June 25, 2016)
“[I]t’s a difficult moment for the United Kingdom and Europe in general, and the situation greatly resembles that of the elections in the United States… In my opinion, the goal of this referendum wasn’t really to determine whether or not the United Kingdom would stay in the EU. Rather, it was more a referendum on the status of the British government today, in the same way that voters in the United States aren’t concerned so much with Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, but rather, what they are feeling about American society.” (
L’Orient Le Jour, Lebanon — translated from the French)
Thomas has also been interviewed by
CNN (June 27, 2016),
TRT World TV of Turkey (June 23, 2016) and “
Talk Back Radio” of Missoula, Montana (June 22, 2016).