Like Brexit, divorce has traditionally been framed in similarly adversarial and belligerent terms and this has also led to counterproductive behaviours.
Brexit has been characterised as a divorce so often that it has become a cliché. Two parties are ending their formal relationship, with emotions running high and a financial settlement looming large. However, Brexit and divorce are not quite as similar as they might appear.
Brexit is vastly more complicated than divorce. Divorce involves two individuals, while Brexit involves a supra-national organisation, 28 culturally-diverse states and a combined population of over half a billion people with wide-ranging viewpoints. International and domestic politics come into play in Brexit with no equivalence in divorce. The EU are concerned to discourage other member states from following the UK’s lead and must consider the Good Friday Agreement. Meanwhile, the UK Government must ensure any deal is approved by Parliament. Brexit negotiations are governed by EU law in the form of Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union, which has just five clauses, totalling only 256 words. Divorce, by contrast, is subject to a specific set of processes, governed by legislation, supported by precedent and adjudicated by the court. Brexit, then, is not divorce writ large. The parallels between the two are limited in scope. The lessons of Brexit Brexit and divorce both involve moving from incompatible positions to consistent positions through dialogue. The failure to reach a timely Brexit agreement offers important lessons, not only for divorcing couples but also for public policy. The most valuable lessons lie in the tendencies in the Brexit negotiations towards framing, blaming, abdicating responsibility, brinkmanship and punishment. Framing Framing has been the most fundamental failure of the Brexit negotiations. The negotiations have been framed in highly adversarial terms that run contrary to the prospects of achieving a deal. The language used acts as a scaffold, giving structure to how people think about the negotiations and, to a significant extent, determining their actions. Framing of Brexit as analogous to divorce is problematic, given the widespread association of divorce with conflict. Unhelpful framing is a major reason why divorce has this connotation, with much of the language involved in a divorce – think ‘petitioner’ and ‘respondent’ – frequently painting the process in highly antagonistic terms which lead to behaviours that are ultimately counterproductive. Blaming The highly adversarial framing of the Brexit process has led to the UK and the EU almost constantly seeking to apportion blame upon each other, whether for Brexit taking place at all or for the failure of the negotiations. Blame is similarly problematic in divorce and can significantly hinder couples’ ability to reach fair and sustainable agreements. www.nzdrc.co.nz