The notion of nation

We live in an increasingly globalised world, and so often hear that the very concept of nation is becoming increasingly less relevant. It is paradoxical, then, that Scotland is under a year from considering a question that goes to the very heart of their national identity: whether or not it should stay a part of the UK.

While polls indicate that the ‘Better Together’ campaign maintains a consistent lead, it is striking that, as the 2011 Census reveals, most Scots see themselves as ‘only Scottish.’ This is despite the fact that England and Scotland have been unified for over 300 years.

That most Scots regard themselves as Scottish alone is perhaps a timely reminder that one’s sense of nation is highly organic. Indeed, far from nations amounting to ‘imagined communities’, the product of arbitrarily imposed boundaries alone, the national identity that one has affinity with is instead based on the deeply held ties of shared cultural histories and values.

It is striking that, as the 2011 Census reveals, most Scots see themselves as ‘only Scottish.’

The massive difficulties experienced in governing artificially constructed states like Iraq and Syria is further testament to how a common set of cultural ties underpinning a state is highly critical in ensuring that state’s social and political stability. Consequently, when bodies such as the European Union respond to globalisation by requesting ever greater powers; they pay undue attention to the difficulties in manufacturing popular identification with their institutions.

This is not to deny that there is a rationale for nation states acting as collective ‘blocs’ in areas where they share common aims with one another; this is undoubtedly an eminently sensible response to the challenges that globalisation brings to individual states. Notwithstanding this, it appears overwhelmingly unlikely that such ‘blocs’ will ever possess the ability to usurp national institutions that intuitively command the trust and authority of those that they serve.

Few would deny that globalisation is reshaping the world around us. Nevertheless, the fact that the trend in recent years has been towards greater devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales, with the former now considering complete independence, this shows how historical ties of nation are residual and often unbreakable.

Nations are therefore not mere social constructs, but the basis for the entire identity of many. They will continue to play a hugely influential role in determining how citizens see themselves – and from which source they wish to be governed – irrespective of globalisation.

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Header image courtesy of Flickr.com/ maria_navarro_sorolla