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Atsuko Ichijo Kingston University

Can national identity survive the age of reconfigured sovereignty?: national identity in the twenty-first century. Atsuko Ichijo Kingston University. Wendy Alexander, MSP 19 January 2007.

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Atsuko Ichijo Kingston University

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  1. Can national identity survive the age of reconfigured sovereignty?: national identity in the twenty-first century Atsuko Ichijo Kingston University

  2. Wendy Alexander, MSP19 January 2007 ‘That there are better national purposes for a progressive, farsighted nation like Scotland than putting our efforts and energies into securing our own sovereignty.’

  3. ‘Sovereignty as national identity’ ‘Because I think it’s nice to keep your own identity. I do think I am not a royalist. I am not saying it because the Queen’s head is on the coins or whatever. It is nice to keep your own identity.’

  4. Nationalism: core doctrines • the world is divided into nations, each with its own character, history and destiny; • the nation is the sole source of political power; • loyalty to the nation overrides all other loyalties; • to be free, every individual must belong to a nation; • every nation requires full self-expression and autonomy; • global peace and justice require a world of autonomous nations. (Smith 2001:22)

  5. Sovereignty ‘the exclusive right to exercise supreme political (e.g. legislative, judicial, and/or executive) authority over a geographic region, group of people, or oneself.’

  6. Nationalism and sovereignty: • Territoriality: Connecting the nation to the state • ‘Nations that attain sovereignty have the priviledge, and the obligation, of determining much of their own fate’ (Hechtor 2000: 113).

  7. Nationalism and sovereignty • Popular sovereignty • To say that sovereignty ought to reside in the people raises the question of how ‘the people’ is identified. This question may be resolved by regarding ‘the people’ and ‘the nation’ as identical entities, whereby the statement that ‘sovereignty ought to be located in the people’ becomes an equivalent to the proposition that ‘nations ought to be the sovereign entity. (Kurtulus 2005: 54-55)

  8. ‘Sovereignty as national identity’ ‘Not only is our currency under threat, but our entire legal system, our British nationality, our right to free speech and freedom of association, our police, our armed forces, our own agricultural policy, our right to trade freely and the parliamentary system that underpins British liberty.’ (UKIP, 2001)

  9. Material • Manifestoes for the May 3rd Election • Political speeches • Scottish Parliament debates on ‘Future of Scotland’ (6 September 2006 and 29 March 2007) and ‘Scotland in the United Kingdom (22 March 2007)

  10. Discourse of sovereignty • Intergovernmental view – SNP • Unionist view – Labour, LibDem, Conservative

  11. Intergovernmental view • Kenny MacAskill, SNP, for the future of Scotland debate on 29 March 2007 • ‘The important point is that we need to b a nation state. ….’

  12. Intergovernmental view - cont’d • ‘Of course, all nations in the modern world are interdependent. …In the UN, it is a Micronesian atoll or Cyprus – not California or Catalonia – that can stand up and say, ‘This war is not in our name’. As Mr Finnie well knows, when the European Union decides on fishing matters that affect our nation, it is not Bavaria that has the vote, but landlocked Slovakia or Luxembourg. The fact is that anything that is not a nation state does not have the right to representation.’

  13. Intergovernmental view – cont’d • ‘Of course, nations states have to cede some powers. Indeed, that will be the case in the interregnum that must occur when a devolved state becomes a nation state. If we want the benefits of EU membership, we have to acknowledge that, at times, a shared central bank will provide low interest rates and a stable economy.’

  14. Intergovernmental view – cont’d • ‘All such matters require co-operation and must be driven forward, but states that are not nation states are left with the problem that wars can be fought in their name; that their young men can die for they know not what cause; and that their elderly can be treated without the dignity or respect that they deserve. That is why Scotland must be independent.’

  15. Unionist view • faith and pride in the nation; ‘progressive and farsighted’ by Wendy Alexander; ‘we have given so much over the centuries to the wider world’ by Annable Goldie • state sovereignty is under serious threat

  16. Unionist view – cont’d • Labour Party Manifesto • ‘In the early years of the 21st century Scotland is succeeding. But the challenges in the next decades of the 21st century are without precedent.’ • ‘I believe Scotland has the greatest chance of success within this fast changing and uncertain world if we play to our strengths. We have the best of both worlds: the strength and stability of a large and powerful nation state and the dynamism and drive of devolved government.’

  17. Sovereignty reconfigured • Intergovernmental: No absolute state sovereignty, but sovereignty as the tool for self-determination; • Unionist: globalisation is changing the quality of sovereignty; • Ambiguity over the nature the Union of Scotland and England

  18. Conclusion • Intergovernmental view – built on conventional understanding; • Unionist view – crisis of democracy? Decoupling of the nation from the state?

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