Varieties of Nationalism in Scotland and England

Abstract

This chapter shows that there is an inevitable asymmetry in the very nature and character of Scottish and English nationalism. In particular, it tries to examine the nature of unionism and nationalism in Scotland and England and the prospects for the union. Minority nationalism is the nationalism of politically subordinate groups that seek statehood. The chapter first explores three different aspects of nationalism, namely emotional attachments to Britain, perceptions of conflicts of interest between England and Scotland and constitutional preferences. It gets very different impressions of relations between England and Scotland depending on whether constitutional preferences, affective attachments or perceptions of national interest are considered. The data indicate that, whereas amongst older respondents higher education was linked with unionism, amongst the young it was accompanied by disengagement. The character and behaviour of unionists, nationalists, potential nationalists and disengaged post-nationalists, and the implications for relations between the two countries are elaborated. It is suspected that parties like the Referendum Party in 2001 and currently the UK Independence Party are the most likely to harness the potential for English nationalism and to direct it against Europe rather than against Scotland.