Representing the nation in Citizenship in an Independent Scotland: Compromised inclusion?

Abstract

This paper analyses how Citizenship in an Independent Scotland (CIS)—published by the Scottish Government as part of a ‘prospectus for an independent Scotland’—discursively represents the Scottish nation in the context of establishing who should be eligible to be a member of that nation. I relate CIS to the historical and contemporary determination of British citizenship and to evidence concerning popular conceptions of citizenship and national belonging in Scotland. I argue that while CIS reflects nation‐building through an attempt to rhetorically differentiate Scotland from Britain, it also reflects the influence that the evolution of British citizenship has on proposed post‐independence Scottish citizenship. I also evaluate CIS's stress on ‘inclusion’, consistent with its representation of Scotland as an ‘inclusive’ nation. I conclude that the proposals may be described as compromised inclusion and that the reasons for this are likely to be common to similar aspirational secessionist proposals in sub‐state nations.