England and Britain in Historical Perspective

2018 ◽  
pp. 27-43
Author(s):  
Arthur Aughey
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Double Vision ◽  
Institutional Legitimacy ◽  
Good Place ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Living Tradition

In 1973, the Royal Commission on the Constitution understood membership of the United Kingdom to mean representation in the Parliament at Westminster. That approach emphasised political allegiance and institutional legitimacy rather than trying to define national identity. Forty years later the historian Robert Colls proposed that if you want to understand national identity, a good place to start would be the constitution, a living tradition based on historical relationships. Accordingly, this chapter examines the link between institutions and identity from two historical perspectives. The first recognises few institutions to be English as opposed to British. The second views these institutions as English onto which have been grafted British purposes. Historically, the Union has depended on these two views of identity co-existing as a political ‘double vision’. The chapter reconsiders that historical co-existence, identifying those perspectives which also threaten that double vision.

scholarly journals An ‘Anti-Sectarian’ Act? Examining the Importance of National Identity to the ‘Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act’

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony May
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Identity ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Football Fans ◽  
Threatening Communications ◽  
Scottish Government

The 2010-11 football season in Scotland was affected by many incidents of violence and threatening behaviour. Fans of the two Glasgow clubs, Celtic and Rangers, were involved in the majority of these incidents. Players and officials of Celtic were targeted by Loyalist terrorists and sent bullets through the post. The Scottish government felt that many of the incidents were motivated by religious, ethnic, and national hatred, and introduced an Act of Parliament in order to tackle the problems that had arisen. The ‘Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act’ came into law on 1 March 2012, representing a governmental judgement that Scottish football is negatively affected by inter-communal tension. The Act criminalises violent incidents and threatening behaviour related to the expression of religious hatred towards football fans, players, and officials. It also explicitly targets expressions of hatred on ethnic and national grounds. This is significant because in the contemporary era, much of what is termed ‘sectarianism’ in Scotland is directly related to national identity, particularly British and Irish identities. The modern iconography of Celtic and Rangers has comparatively little to do with religion, and relates to differing visions of Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the island of Ireland. Incidents that are termed ‘sectarian’ are often best examined through the prism of nationalism, for in contemporary Scotland it is national identity that is most significant to those who perpetrate the actions that the Act seeks to tackle.

Civil society in search of a state: Dublin 1898–1922

Urban History ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
CIARÁN WALLACE
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Municipal Government ◽  
City Council ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Government Reforms

ABSTRACT:A municipal boundary dispute between Dublin's nationalist city council and its independent unionist suburbs in the early twentieth century was symptomatic of a much deeper disagreement over national identity within the United Kingdom. Considering urban councils as the link between the state and local civil society (or subscriber democracy), and using theories proposed by Graeme Morton, R.J. Morris and Norton E. Long, along with illustrative contrasts from municipal behaviour in Edinburgh, this article examines these relationships in Edwardian Dublin. It argues that the modernization of Irish municipal government in 1898 empowered Dublin in unforeseen ways. By amplifying existing divergent identities, and providing a platform for the nascent Irish state, municipal government reforms contributed significantly to the break-up of the UK in 1922.

The Ties That Bind: Britain’s Use of Scottish Highland Dress

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 240-254
Author(s):  
David Loranger ◽  
Eulanda A. Sanders
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Secondary Literature ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Over Time

For over 300 years, Britain has influenced Scotland’s national identity. Scottish Highland dress, which consists of kilts and tartans has been appropriated, manipulated, and transformed by the British in order to forward political, commercial, and social objectives. Scotland’s national dress has contributed to a more cohesive identity within the United Kingdom. However, available research only examines specific instances of British influence on—and usage of—kilts and tartans. The purpose of this study was to identify and explore a sample of key figures and historical events that illustrate the use of Scottish Highland dress to forward British interests. The researchers triangulated databases and secondary literature along with extant objects and materials, with the aim of developing a more holistic understanding of appropriation, manipulation, and transformation. Findings indicate how the context and usage of Scottish Highland dress was transformed over time.

scholarly journals European identity of Scotland in the context of Brexit

2020 ◽  
pp. 157-177
Author(s):  
Mikhail Grabevnik
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Identity ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Soft Or ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Key Factor

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union focused the issue of cleavage of British statehood by European criteria. According to the results of sociological surveys and polls, the distribution of preferences of Brexit is correlated with the national identification matrix. Most Scots and Irish of United Kingdom support remaining the membership in the European Union, while the most English defend soft or hard Brexit. However, the depth of such cleavage underlines the uncertainty in the preferences of citizens who identify as British in general. In the context of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, the question of the European identity of Scots was also underlines by Scotland's regional political actors. This article is aimed to the analysis of the dynamics of the European identity of the Scottish community in 2016–2020 under Brexit conditions. The author concludes that the share of Scots with European identities increased after 2016, and Brexit was a key factor in the dynamics. At the same time, the actualization of European identity among the Scottish community is connected with the pragmatic strategy of the Scottish community and regional political actors to neutralize the negative economic and social effects of Brexit and plays an instrumental role in the national and European political arenas. The article starts with an excursion to the issues of national identity in the modern United Kingdom in the studies of Western and Russian authors. Then, based on an analysis of sociological data, the question of the European identity of Scots was raised, as well as the role of the national identity of United Kingdom citizens in the issue of membership in the European Union. At the end of the article, author proposes the description of the position and strategy of the Scottish community on the issue of Brexit.

Nation, empire and ethnicity

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Cultural Difference ◽  
Foreign Competition ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Victorian Period ◽  
British Press ◽  
A Site

Chapter 3 considers the multiple ways in which the Exhibition can be viewed as a site for exploring issues of national identity in the Victorian period. It showcases documents that speak to the anxieties that British manufacturers had about foreign competition and free trade, to public fears about racial and cultural difference, and to the patriotism that the event instilled in many quarters. The material in this chapter is taken from the British press – who were preoccupied with what became known as ‘The Foreign Question’ – but also from international sources, revealing the ways in which the Exhibition was seen from outside the United Kingdom.

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