The Good and the Bad of Europe: Political Attitudes to the EU as a Function of its Impact on National Identity
The Good and the Bad of Europe: Political Attitudes to the EU as a Function of its Impact on National Identity
The purpose of such analysis is to pursue Reicher & Hopkins' (2001) analysis of the political rhetoric of national identity, as well as to evaluate the relevance of the general model of political attitudes towards superordinate membership proposed by Sindic & Reicher (2009). The key claim of this model is that such political attitudes depends on whether superordinate group membership is seen to repress or facilitate the ability of the ingroup to express its identity in practices (i.e. in a way of life) - that is, whether it is seen to create a situation of identity undermining vs. identity enhancement.
Thus, on the one hand, we aim to test whether this perspective can help to make sense of the arguments (relating to membership in Europe and Britain) used by a group of interviewed Scottish politicians. Indeed, if the model is right about the key role of identity undermining vs. identity enhancement in shaping political attitudes, then one should expect these politicians to focus on this issue. That is, we would expect them to argue that Scottishness is undermined or enhanced in the EU and/or the UK as a function of the particular political project they wish to promote (supporting or opposing European integration and membership in the UK). Moreover, we also aim to analyse the strategic dimension of such arguments, i.e., to look at how identities (the Scots, the Europeans, the English, the British) and the social and political context (e.g. power, relationship of interests) are variously constructed as a function of the direction in which politicians wish to mobilize others.
Identidade Nacional; Nacionalismo; Atitudes Políticas; União Europeia
The purpose of such analysis is to pursue Reicher & Hopkins' (2001) analysis of the political rhetoric of national identity, as well as to evaluate the relevance of the general model of political attitudes towards superordinate membership proposed by Sindic & Reicher (2009). The key claim of this model is that such political attitudes depends on whether superordinate group membership is seen to repress or facilitate the ability of the ingroup to express its identity in practices (i.e. in a way of life) - that is, whether it is seen to create a situation of identity undermining vs. identity enhancement.
Thus, on the one hand, we aim to test whether this perspective can help to make sense of the arguments (relating to membership in Europe and Britain) used by a group of interviewed Scottish politicians. Indeed, if the model is right about the key role of identity undermining vs. identity enhancement in shaping political attitudes, then one should expect these politicians to focus on this issue. That is, we would expect them to argue that Scottishness is undermined or enhanced in the EU and/or the UK as a function of the particular political project they wish to promote (supporting or opposing European integration and membership in the UK). Moreover, we also aim to analyse the strategic dimension of such arguments, i.e., to look at how identities (the Scots, the Europeans, the English, the British) and the social and political context (e.g. power, relationship of interests) are variously constructed as a function of the direction in which politicians wish to mobilize others.
