Devolution in a ‘Stateless Nation’: Nation‐building and Social Policy in Scotland

Abstract

The implications of the 2011 Scottish election and the proposed referendum on Scottish independence for the future of social policy across the devolved UK are profound but far from certain. It is crucial to understand not only the historical nature of this conjuncture but to develop an adequate conceptual understanding of the place of social policy in the dialectic between state and nation in Scotland. To this end, we critically examine theories that depict Scotland as an essentially 'stateless nation' in the light of recent developments. In so doing, we examine the implications for social policy of the changing character of statehood in Scotland, the nature of civil nationalism, and the problem of legitimacy in Scotland for the UK as a multinational state. As the architecture of statehood is re-negotiated, strong centrifugal pressures are being created for a more distinct divergence of social policy in Scotland from the rest of the UK regardless of the outcome of the independence referendum. Policy-making is ensnared in a series of tensions, not just between Westminster and Holyrood but also, more broadly, tensions between competing principles of social justice and territorial justice, and competing demands between welfare nationalism and competitive nationalism.

Infrastructure and interpretation: Meters, dams, and state imagination in Scotland and India

“…The modern sociological consensus—from all sides of the ideological spectrum—is that in the absence of an autonomous state, the institutions of the church, law, and education (Hearn :129–132), and particularly those of collective provision, provided the material site for the formation of Scottish national identity (McCrone ; Paterson ). Two recent critics of this legacy write that “‘Scottishness’ as a collective identity has been imprinted by social policy” and welfare institutions (Law and Mooney :163).…”

Embarking on self-directed support in Scotland: a focused scoping review of the literature

“…However, responsibilities for social care policy are devolved in the UK and are leading towards divergent social work practice. Law and Mooney (2012) have recently commented on efforts to develop distinct social policy in Scotland from the rest of the UK. One manifestation of this, as Keating and Cairney (2009, p. 40) suggested, is that there is less emphasis on consumerism and competition in Scottish social care policy than in England.…”

‘It’s good but it’s not enough’: the relational geographies of social policy and youth mentoring interventions

“…We instead acknowledge the complex impacts of neoliberalisation (and more recently austerity) in the ways that social policy practice is framed and reframed in diverse forms of practice, including in the devolved administration of Scotland, where the project on which this paper is based was located (Law and Mooney 2012). At the same time, taking account of the relational practices of the mentoring process leaves space for the excessive nature of practices of social justice (Griffiths 2013), for other models of practice, both professional and lay, as well as for the agency of the young people themselves to emerge within the complex geographies of care which underpin these practices (Laurie andBondi 2005, Hall 2013).…”