Scottish Nationalism

Scottish devolution was defeated in the referendum and the two biggest parties campaigned for “No”. The SNP considered the results as a victory for devolution but was against the referendum as they were campaigning about the complete independence.

Within the United Kingdom, a recurring issue has been raised regarding the political position of Scotland and how the Scottish Parliament could better govern the country. To establish whether the quality of life could be improved for the Scottish people, key events, devolution, and the Scottish Parliament must be evaluated and analysed. The argument for greater power in decision making and the ability to implement change for the citizens of Scotland, has been central to Scottish politics for some time.

Be it a good or be it a bad decision! Scotland is at a turning point in its history. Why does Scotland want to be independent? Are the causes of independence quite persuasive for people to vote yes? And what about their effects, will these causes contribute to Scotland’s progression or retrogression? Although the Scottish want to gain their independence, they were divided into two campaigns; the Yes Campaign and the No Campaign. Each of which has strong arguments both for and against the independence.

Nationalism has been extremely important and influential in shaping the modern world we see today, causing revolutions, rebellions and the constant reshaping of world maps continuing even today. Its appeal is something that I don’t believe will diminish in the future. Many theologians and political commentators alike agree that Nationalism has perhaps been one of the most prominent political ideologies of the modern world “No single political doctrine has played a more prominent role in shaping the face of the modern world than nationalism” 1, and doesn’t look like ceasing to be as influential anytime

The Scottish National Party was formed in 1934 following the merger of the National Party and the Scottish and has had continuous representation at Westminster since the 1967 Winnie Ewing’s victory at the 1967 Hamilton by-election. When the Scottish Parliament was formed in 1999, the SNP became the second largest party in the Scottish legislature, serving two terms in opposition. Alex Salmond became the leader of the SNP in 1990 and returned as leader in 2004, leading the party to take the majority in Parliament following the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. This essay will evaluate the importance Alex Salmond to the rise of the SNP and its effects on Scotland and Britain.

Scotland has been part of the UK, which consists of 4 parts/countries (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and England), since 1707. The want for Scottish independence can be dated back from the late 13th century, which has died down later until the

However, nationalism does not have one single definition, its meaning has evolved as society changes and modernises. Nationalism can “...refer to any behaviour designed to restore, maintain, or advance public images of that national community” (Gries, 2005:9). By the mid-1960s there were two main proposals to understanding nationalism. “In the first, nationalism was an aspect of national history, a sentiment associated with the nation...In the second approach, nationalism was a modern, irrational doctrine which could acquire sufficient power...to generate nationalists sentiments and even nation states” (Gellner, 2008:xx). Nationalism is defined differently by different schools of thought and theorists.

Scottish Independence has been a purpose of various political parties and Scots. Centuries ago, Scotland has been attempting to gain its independence form the UK. A number of referendums were held, in order to raise the issue of independence. Two of which were Devolution Referendums, held in 1979 and 1997 and an Independence Referendum held in 2014. There are some debates on holding a Second Independence Referendum in the coming years as well. The question here is what are the causes and effects of independence? And will they aid in flourishing Scotland’s future? There is no doubt that there are quite persuasive causes, but not all of them would last for too long; for example, oil. The issue of independence is a mixed blessing for what it

While the authors mentioned above have attempted to define nations and nationalism in general terms, the latter author has applied these theories to Scotland. Tom Nairn argues that in Scotland - where the political nationalism is impotent - a form of ‘pseudo-nationalism’ has been produced. Nairn believes that stereotypical manifestations, like Tartan and Kailyard, became a ‘sub-cultural substitute’ for Scottish nationalism. He argues that since the intelligentsia was deprived of a 19th-century cultural ‘nationalization,' Scotland turned towards Tartanry to construct a false ‘pseudo-nationalism’ (Nairn, 156 ).

The nationalism in Scotland has run high, majority of them wanted devolution in the referendum in 1997, and finally it could have been a case that they would have had independence in 2014. On the other hand, not only economics, but also the Welsh language have been important issues for Wales, in terms of nationalism. Though the rise of their nationalism was not as clear as that of the Scots, it came to a point where they obtained devolution. For the both cases of the rise of nationalism in Scotland and Wales, it has always been democratic deficit that has been the problem in the both countries. That is to say, their opinion as countries has not been fully reflected in the UK's policy, and this has been a reason for the rise of nationalism. In spite of their obtaining devolution, it still keeps being a problem in the entire UK. As long as their independences are not decided, the government is required to deal with this problem, while controlling the people's

The concept of ‘banal nationalism’ was introduced by Michael Billig (1995) as a term for describing the everyday, unconscious occurrences which that allow a national identity to reproduce itself. Examples of this might be the types of coin used, flags being displayed, or certain rhetoric from politicians (Billig, 2005). Billig (1995) points out that commonly nationalism is written about when discussing extreme or violent attempts to create or seriously change a nation, such as the French revolution. It is also rarely ascribed to people from one’s own country, who are part of the mainstream culture or government. Yet despite this lack of conscious nationalism the members of the nation do not forget their national identity, only remembering them during times of conflict or during national events, such as a royal marriage. This, according to Banal Nationalism, is because the of many of the routine ways of life that reinforce ones shared sense of belonging to the nation, such as the classification of home vs foreign news stories in the media, or the British-centric history lessons taught from a young age.

Scotland held its independence referendum on September 18th, 2014. The Scottish Nationalist Party wanted to hold this vote in order to give the people of Scotland a say in whether or not their country would stay in the UK. In his speech, “Silent No More”, Gordon Brown urges his audience to have the confidence in saying “no” to Scotland’s independence.

Today, the scourge of nationalism continues to infect humanity. Without doubt, in some circles, nationalism is hotly debated. For most people, however, the concept of nationalism is rarely questioned. In fact, it 's a foregone conclusion that people should love the nation in which they reside. Some people even take great pride in the fact that they were arbitrarily born in a specific geographical location. Unfortunately, like religion or capitalism, nationalism is alive and well in the 21st century.

Nationalism can be defined in two dimensions. First, the feeling of having a sense of national identity. This “national identity” is often confronted with a dilemma as to how to draw the boundaries of what creates a nation. This pre-requisite often comes in the form of either similarities in origin, ethnicity, culture and willingness to partake in the membership of a “nation”. This is contrasted with the concept of “states” as states such as the Native American Iroqouis, whom although are a “nation” have no presiding political autonomy over themselves.

In this essay, we will consider and analyse the effect of Brexit upon the rights of individuals as well as the effect it will have upon the competence of the devolved Scottish government and its relationship with the UK.