The Scottish Independence Movement: National or Nationalist?

Focusing on the case of the Scottish independence movement, this article aims to reflect on whether support for independence necessarily equates to nationalism. The reflection hinges on two premises: first, independence does not hold the same importance for all pro-independence actors, and second, m...

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Main Author: Nathalie Duclos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Rennes 2023-10-01
Series:Revue LISA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/15538
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author Nathalie Duclos
author_facet Nathalie Duclos
author_sort Nathalie Duclos
collection DOAJ
description Focusing on the case of the Scottish independence movement, this article aims to reflect on whether support for independence necessarily equates to nationalism. The reflection hinges on two premises: first, independence does not hold the same importance for all pro-independence actors, and second, many of them have chosen to put a rejection of nationalism at the heart of their case for independence. The article argues in favour of dividing pro-independence actors into two groups: nationalists for whom the pursuit of self-government is not only a means to other ends, but also an end goal to be achieved on the basis of nationalist principles; and non-nationalists for whom independence is only ever presented as a means to other, greater ends. The article suggests that rather than a nationalist movement, the Scottish independence movement is perhaps best described as a “national” movement, i.e. a Scottish-wide coalition of actors united in their support for independence, but divided over the place they give to independence in their order of priorities, the arguments used to defend it, as well as their perception of nationalism as a belief-system.
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spelling doaj-art-bb4d099ba11f4c74a65219dc3f8f302d2025-01-06T09:03:07ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532023-10-012110.4000/lisa.15538The Scottish Independence Movement: National or Nationalist?Nathalie DuclosFocusing on the case of the Scottish independence movement, this article aims to reflect on whether support for independence necessarily equates to nationalism. The reflection hinges on two premises: first, independence does not hold the same importance for all pro-independence actors, and second, many of them have chosen to put a rejection of nationalism at the heart of their case for independence. The article argues in favour of dividing pro-independence actors into two groups: nationalists for whom the pursuit of self-government is not only a means to other ends, but also an end goal to be achieved on the basis of nationalist principles; and non-nationalists for whom independence is only ever presented as a means to other, greater ends. The article suggests that rather than a nationalist movement, the Scottish independence movement is perhaps best described as a “national” movement, i.e. a Scottish-wide coalition of actors united in their support for independence, but divided over the place they give to independence in their order of priorities, the arguments used to defend it, as well as their perception of nationalism as a belief-system.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/15538nationalismScotlandindependencesocial movementnationalist movement
spellingShingle Nathalie Duclos
The Scottish Independence Movement: National or Nationalist?
Revue LISA
nationalism
Scotland
independence
social movement
nationalist movement
title The Scottish Independence Movement: National or Nationalist?
title_full The Scottish Independence Movement: National or Nationalist?
title_fullStr The Scottish Independence Movement: National or Nationalist?
title_full_unstemmed The Scottish Independence Movement: National or Nationalist?
title_short The Scottish Independence Movement: National or Nationalist?
title_sort scottish independence movement national or nationalist
topic nationalism
Scotland
independence
social movement
nationalist movement
url https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/15538
work_keys_str_mv AT nathalieduclos thescottishindependencemovementnationalornationalist
AT nathalieduclos scottishindependencemovementnationalornationalist