Anatomy Of The Rising Nationalist Movement In Scotland

Following the signing of the ‘Edinburgh agreement’, there will be anindependence referendum in2014when Scottish people make a momentous decisionon the future of Scotland and the UK. Although current support for independence islimited, it is clear that nationalist movement in Scotland has gradually been gainingprominence in the past three decades. This paper reviews the path of the modernScottish nationalist movement, and identifies some of the most important drivingforces behind such a trend: economics have played a decisive role in theindependence argument, especially with the discovery of North Sea oil; the Europeancontext is important because it lowers the threshold of independence; the risingnationalism, the failure of Labour to accommodate changes after devolution and thelong-term decline of Conservative contribute to the success of SNP; Scotsincreasingly identify with their nation rather than the United Kingdom. Regardless ofwhat happens next year, a lasting result is more future devolution of power toScotland as it recognises the limitations of state sovereignty in the modern world andseeks to make its own choices about how it fits into the emerging international order.