Section Four: Summary and Conclusions

Summary

The aims of this dissertation, as stated in the introduction, were twofold. The first aim was to discuss the conflict of identities within Scotland, by illustrating the pluralism of identities within the nation. The second aim was to show how Scottish national identity has been affected by the contemporary global era. The first aim has been achieved by the discussion in section two, where I used examples to show how the micro-structure of identities within the country is somewhat fragmented, although it is still possible to define a coherent Scottish ‘national identity'. This is done both by the ‘regressive discourses' of identity: ‘tartanry', history and tradition; and also by the realisation by Scotland's population that she is a nation without a state. The latter aspect contributing towards Scottish identity has been manifested by the SNP. In section three, I turned to how the national identity is projected and manifested through the mechanism of political nationalism, and I concentrated particularly on the SNP's changing policy towards Europe. In this section I also identified the phenomenon of Scottish fundamentalism, through the activities of the extra-parliamentary nationalists. This still leaves the second aim partly unachieved, which I will turn to now, in the concluding section of this dissertation.