1st Edition

Scottish Nationalism and the Idea of Europe Concepts of Europe and the Nation

By Atsuko Ichijo Copyright 2004
    192 Pages
    by Routledge

    192 Pages
    by Routledge

    'Independence in Europe', adopted by the Scottish National Party (SNP) as its core policy in 1988, has become part and parcel of contemporary Scottish nationalism. But is this not a contradiction in terms? Nationalistic logic dictates that one cannot demand independence while accepting the constraints that come with membership of the European Union. This book takes up that question and explores the conditions that have emerged and become integrated with Scottish society today.

    Scottish Nationalism and the Idea of Europe offers fresh insights into the 'pro-European' dimension of Scottish nationalism and its implications for the UK. The book also argues for the necessity of examining the uses of history in seeking to understand the 'new' nationalisms of contemporary Europe.

    Introduction 1. The Scots and Scotland 2. The Emergence of the ‘Scotland and Europe’ Theme 3. The Evolution of the Idea of Europe 4. ‘Europe is Good for Scotland’: In the Eyes of the Respondents 5. The Uses of History: Why Europe is Good for Scotland 6. Scotland and Europe: An Assessment, Conclusion

    Biography

    Atsuko Ichijo is Research Project Officer working on a European Commision funded international research project, EURONAT, at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science. She obtained an MA from the Universty of Tokyo before being awarded the first ever PhD in Nationalism and Ethnicity by the University of London - this book is based on her doctoral thesis.

    'A well-constructed, readable and very clear account of the attitudes of Scottish elites towards Europe and the way in which these elites project images of europe and the european Union onto Scottish identity.'

    Peter Lynch, Scottish Affairs

    'Interview material is skilfully deployed in the main empirical sections and backed up by some widder statistical data to assess changing public attitudes to Europe.'

    Peter Lynch, Scottish Affairs