Review: Nations Against the State

Abstract

With the prospect of a Scottish parliament seeming daily to become more tangible, and with its approach the intriguing conflicts which such a body would face both internally and externally looming larger, Michael Keating's book comparing Scotland with Quebec and Catalonia is a timely publication. It is much more than just well-timed however, grappling with the apparent contemporary political paradox which has elicited so much comment, both academic and journalistic, namely how to explain the contradictory trends which see the traditional nation-state attacked from both above in the form of supranational integration and below in the guise of autonomist parties.