"Scotland's hidden powers": History, nation and justice in the Scottish autonomist movement.
Item
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Title
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"Scotland's hidden powers": History, nation and justice in the Scottish autonomist movement.
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Identifier
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AAI9720097
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identifier
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9720097
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Creator
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Hearn, Jonathan Scott.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Jane Schneider
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Date
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1997
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Anthropology, Cultural | History, European | Political Science, General
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Abstract
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This study, based on ethnographic research, examines the current social movement in Scotland for greater political autonomy, whether in the form of a parliament within the UK or independent nationhood. This movement is multivalent, but can be characterized overall as a defense of the idea of the activist, social democratic welfare state, confronting Thatcherism and the New Right. The study focuses on the moral discourse that pervades the movement, representations of community and social justice, and how these relate to Scottish history. It explores both the structural and institutional history that underpins the current movement (e.g., developments of state, civil society, and economy), and the ways in which participants construct and mobilize Scottish history, symbolically and rhetorically, in behalf of present goals. Findings are situated within anthropological discussions of culture, history and power, relating these to current debates in political theory around conceptions of liberalism, communitarianism, and the social contract. The thesis offers a critical alternative to familiar discussions of the resurgence of ethnicity and nationalism in Europe by showing how notions of culture and history are linked in this case to basic social conflicts over the purpose of the state.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
