Programme full

Poles and the Scottish Independence Referendum: Denizens’ Perspectives
McGhee, D., Pietka-Nykaza, E.
(University of Southampton)
Wednesday 15 April 2015 09:00 - 10:30
PAPER SESSION 1
In terms of the main traditions of citizenship scholarship there are three main aspects: (i) the rights and entitlements of
citizenship; (ii) the processes of participation involved in citizenship; and (iii) the democratic context of citizenship. In
this paper we touch on all three aspects by looking at the processes and implications of Polish migrants' participation
in the historic event of the Scottish Independence Referendum in September 2014. By so doing, in this article we
explore the implications, reflections and ambivalence associated with the referendum and it's potential outcomes for
Scotland's largest minority group (55,231 in 2011) namely, Polish denizens living in Scotland.
The central contribution of this study is to explore the ambivalence and salience of Polish denizenship in the context of
the Scottish Independence Referendum 2014 when (a) Polish migrants were provided with the opportunity to
participate in this historic event, unlike other foreigners such as non-EU third country nationals, however, (b) their
denizenship could be potentially disrupted as a consequence of the outcomes of the referendum. This paper also
animates the often formal debates on migrants' electoral eligibility in the EU with the perceptions, experiences and
emotional responses of EU migrants, or what we prefer to call EU denizens in Scotland in the context of the
Independence referendum in 2014.
Scottish Nationalism as ‘Civic’: Critiquing the Complacency
Liinpää, M.
(University of Glasgow)
Binary distinctions have long been a prominent feature of nationalism studies, aiming at separating 'good' forms of
nationalism from the 'bad' ones – be it political/cultural nationalism (Kohn 1965) or eastern/western nationalism (Kohn
1965; Plamenatz 1976), for example. However, one of the most debated dichotomies within nationalism studies has
been that of civic versus ethnic nationalism (e.g. Brubaker 1992; Ignatieff 1994). Furthermore, this dichotomy has
featured heavily in the ways in which Scottish nationalism is understood and theorised (e.g. Kiely et al, 2005).
Using data from qualitative interviews conducted with 'experts' and individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds
regarding Scottish nationalism and its relationship with ethnic minorities, as well as data gathered from analysing the
content of SNP's publications and its prominent figures' speeches, this paper will critically discuss the usefulness of
binary categorisations. While this paper will mainly focus on the independence referendum, because 2014 is also the
year of Homecoming Scotland, it will offer a critique regarding the ways in which Scottish 'civic' nationalist ideas have
long disregarded certain groups that could (should?) be seen as belonging to the Scottish 'diaspora' (an idea which
itself challenges the 'civicness' of Scottishness!). Here, this paper will especially focus on the Caribbean countries that
have close historical links to Scotland. The argument will be that while the civic/ethnic divide needs to be taken into
account with regard to the ways in which people make sense of and interpret Scottish nationalist rhetoric and ideas,
as an analytical tool it has limited use.
Race, Ethnicity and Migration 2
W709, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
DIASPORA, MIGRATION AND TRANSNATIONALISM SUB-STREAM: EASTERN EUROPE AND MIGRATION
The Problems with Direct Questions on Ethnic Conflict in Empirical Research: The Case of Roma Minorities in
Hungary
Tremlett, A.
(University of Portsmouth)
With vitriolic media stories, draconian government measures and discriminatory attacks by far right groups, the
problem of discrimination against Roma minorities – or 'Romaphobia' - is said to the last acceptable form of racism in
Europe today. This paper examines how discriminatory attitudes can be researched empirically, examining the
challenges of direct questioning about ethnic conflict. The research draws on qualitative research, including
observation, fieldnotes, visual images and interviews ('photo elicitation') carried out with young Roma and non-Roma
people in Hungary during 2013, funded by the British Academy Small Grant. Taking up criticisms of sociological
research as over-focusing on the interview, this paper considers what can be learned from looking beyond the
interview in qualitative research and the implications for the study of ethnicity or 'race', particularly in conflict situations.
The findings show that post-socialist discourses on Roma minorities do not always conform to notions of an 'ethnic
71 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University