EU–UK relations after Brexit: the emotional (de)politicization of the ‘Oxford’ COVID-19 vaccine

Journal article

In early 2021, the United Kingdom, facing the challenge of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, embarked on a push to vaccinate its population. This effort unfolded with public pressure to return the country to ‘normal’ life and the constraints of an urgent timeline, but also amid a tense ‘vaccine war’ with the European Union to determine the most effective vaccine, and then to achieve the swiftest rollout and widest distribution of vaccine doses. Taking place against the backdrop of Brexit, this conflict generated complex pressures on both domestic and international fronts, which the UK had to navigate. In this article, we use the UK as a case-study to analyse how states can navigate these pressures. We argue that the answer lies in the politics of emotions and their role in (de)politicization processes. Employing a qualitative analysis of government speeches and media discourses, we demonstrate how the UK government and media engaged in the politics of emotions, guiding (de)politicization processes that redistributed blame and responsibilities from the domestic to the international level, depolarized British public discourse and constrained policy options. At the same time as offering insights on EU–UK relations post-Brexit, the article further theorizes emotions as drivers of the politicization process in an increasingly interconnected world.

Authors: Gellwitzki, CNL; Houde, A-M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Journal: International Affairs
• Volume: 101
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1323-1342
• Publication date: 2025-07-01
• Acceptance date: 2024-10-02
• DOI: 10.1093/ia/iiaf068
• EISSN: 1468-2346
• ISSN: 0020-5850
• Language: English
• Keywords: domestic politics; European Union; media and politics; emotions; United Kingdom; politicization