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ProQuest Information and Leaming 300 North Zeeb Raad, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 THE POLITICS OF IMAGINING NATIONS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY AND THE PARTI QUÉBÉCOIS SINCE THE 1960s by Eve V. Pickles Department ofPolitical Science McGiIl University, Montreal • July 2001 A thesis submitted to the Faculty ofGraduate Studies and Research in partial fuI filment orthe requirements ofthe degree of Master ofArts © Copyright by Eve V. Pickles 2001 '. National Lbary BlJlialhèque nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada ~uisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 3l'5 WeIingIDn sn.t 385, rue WIIiIIQIDn OIawaON K1A0N4 OI-.ON K1A0N4 c.IlIdII c.r.t. The author bas granted a non L7 auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence a1lowing the exclusive pennettant à la National Library ofCanada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distnbute or sen reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies ofthis thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic fonnats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership ofthe L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright inthis thesis. Neither the droit d'autem qui protège cette thèse. tbesis nOf substantial extracts nom it Ni la thèse Di des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced witbout the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. 0-612-75251-8 Canadl TABLE OF CONTENTS • ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ü TABLE OFCONTENTS üi INTRODUCTION 1 CRAPTER. ONE: mEORŒS OF NATIONALISM 13 1. IMAGINING NATIONS THROUGH CULTURE 15 Il. POLmCAL INSTRUMENTS 22 III. CULTURAL VERSUS CIVIC DEBATE 28 IV. A NEW APPROACH 33 L CONCLUSION 35 CHAPTERTWO: NATIONALISM IN SCOTLAND 37 1. CULTURAL NATIONALISM BEFORE THE 19605 39 n. THE ADVENT OF THE SCOTIISH NAnONAL PARTY 44 [II. IMAGlNING THE POLITICAL NATION 49 • IV. JEKYLL AND HYDE 55 V. CONCLUSlON 60 CHAPTERTHREE: NATIONALISM IN QUEBEC 62 Il. CULTURAL NATIONALISM BEFORE THE 19605 64 III. THE ADVENT OF THE PARTI QUÉBÉCOIS 69 IV. IMAGlNlNG THE POLITICAL NATION 76 V. JEKYLL AND HYDE 81 VI. CONCLUSION 85 CONCLUSIONS 88 BIBLIOGRAPHY 98 • • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are a number ofpeople, without whose encouragement and help, 1would not have come to Canada to undertake the research for this thesis. 1 would first like to thank my grandmother, Doreen Long, for making my graduate studies al McGili University financial1y possible. 1would also like to thank my family for their unflinching faith in my academic capabilities, in particular, my mother Margo Milne and my brother David Milne, for.their love, good humour and well-timed "is Eve a nationalistT' wise-cracks. Much ofthe interest l bold in politics derives from the (essons of my Queensferry High School History teacher, Colin Moodie, and bis sardonic perspective of the British govemment tluff-ups of the Thatcher years. Many unsaid thanks are owed to him. Furthennore, 1am grateful to the encouragement ofAnthony Smith at the London School of Economics, whose courses on nationalism opened my eyes to a discipline rich in meaning and infinite opportunities for research and argument. At McGill, 1 would like to gratefully acknowledge the tutelage of my thesis advisor, Hudson Meadwell, and his assistance in helping me to fund the second year of my studies. Special thanks are also due to the Department of Political Science graduate secretaries, for their calm and considerate responses to questions, requests and eoquiries. Last, but not least, [ would like to thank my friends for putting up with, and participating in, my countless rants and discussions of nationalism in various pubs in Edinburgh, • London and Montreal. Much ofmy ideas and arguments were honed during these special occasions. Johanne O~Malley, especially, offered a listening ear and wise criticism during periods ofthesis doubt. Much appreciation is owed to Johanne and my brother David for kindly reading my tirst draft when they probably had much better ways of passing their time. Finally, [ would like Dev Cropper whose encouragement and inspiration l have round unparalleled since bis untimely death in 1998, and Luigi Bettelli, for always saying the right things. Eve V. Pickles July 2001 • ii • ABSTRACT In nationalism studies, there bas been insignificant analysis of the politics of imagining nations. This thesis addresses this lacuna in an examination of the fonn and design of imagined nations in Scotland and Quebec. 1argue that the Scottish National Party and the Parti Québécois have, since their advent in the 1960s, created a political-eivic image of the nation that breaks with previous cultural conceptions. However, cultural images ofthe nation, propagated by centralist institutions, remain entrenched in contemporary Scotland and Quebec. The juxtaposition of centralist cultural images and nationalist political images ofthe nation have led to a dualistic, or what 1 have termed a ~Jekyll and Hyde', national consciousness in both countries. This exercise indicates that images ofthe nation are subjeet to multitudinous interpretations and (re)construction by various actors in the competitive state..nation political arena. Au sein des études sur le nationalisme ce trouve un manque d'analyses importantes par rapport à la politique de «concevoir la nation». Cette thèse présente une examination de la forme et de la construction de nations imaginées, notamment au Québec et en l'Écosse. La thèse propose que le Parti National Écossais (SNP) et le Parti Québécois auront crée une image civique et politique de la nation, qui se qualifie comme différent des images culturelles de la nation qui auraient existés auparavant. Par contre, les images culturelles des deux nations persistent au Québec et en Écosse jusqu'au jour présent par le biasis de leurs représentations au sein des institutions centralistes Québécoises et Écossaises. Cette • juxtaposition d'images centralistes culturelles ainsi que celles politique et nationalistes, auraient menée à un dualisme dénommé içi comme une conscience nationale «Jekyl1 & Hyde» au Québec comme en Écosse. Ce projet nous démontre querimage d'une nation est asujetti à de nombreuses interpretations ainsi que de (re)construction par la main d'acteurs variés dans l'aréne competitive et politique des états nationales. • III • INTRODUCTION It is largely acknowledged that, in the social sciences and humanities in particular, people study subjects that figure personally in their lives. Nationalism is no exception, indeed its profuse emotional bonds often tum academics into fiery creatures. Thus, [ have no qualms in admitting that the motivation ofmy research is to come to teons with how [ feel about the country in which 1was born, raised up, and fied trom al the earliest chance. More than that -[ seek to question what this mutable thing called the 'nation' is, which conjures up so many images in my mind. My own sense ofidentity bas suffered the repereussions of'nalion', progressing as [have from being a 'British Socialisf to a 'Scottish Sovereignist' and finally, to a 'European pluralist'. These political identities, as weil as my feelings toward the 'nation', will surely shift again. This is indicative ofho\v • images ofthe nation must be flexible to allow for re- and de-construction by its members. Yet this project does not eoncem itself with whether and why people are or are not nationalists, unionists etc. Rather, [ address the more specifie problem - as [ see it- ofaccepting the 'imagined community' as a singular thing (in the way we imagine it, what we imagine, and al what level). "Scotland is a place ofthe imagination, what and where people \Vant it to be,n says David McCrone. 1 Yet there has been liule reference in nationalism studies to the dualism that is traceable in my sense ofimagined self, and identifiable in that ofmy compatriots. Not, as commonly prescribed, as a simultaneous Bnton and Scot. But as a person who sees Scotland in (\\,o very different lights. 1 David McCrone, U1lderstQ1lclillg Scotland: the Sociology ofa Store/css J.;atioll, (London and New York: • Routledge, 1992), p. 11. To return to my 'fleeing ofScotiand', 1did so because 1could no longer stomach • the images ofthe town that 1was brought up in. On one han~ propagated by the Scottish Tounst Board, was the image ofa quaint fishing village ofhistorical importance. On the other, espoused by classmates and neighbours, lay the less romantic and highly political image ofthe 'Drugs Capital ofWest Lothian', alcoholism and unemployment. There were two sides to imagining where 1came from. Furthermore, it is apparent that this duality cap be applied not only to microcosms ofScotland, but to the whole. Certainly, my dual evaluation orthe environment in which 1grew up is not uncommon. But at a broader level, I wondered, is this collective feeling toward the nation unique? European examples are often discounted as comparable to Scotlan~ due to Scotland's 'partnered' incorporation, imperialism and certain idiosyncrasies ofthe British State. This is when, in my early research, 1came across the Quebec situation.

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