This thesis critically examines the predominant narratives which emanated from political discourse in relation to two significant events in Scotland in 2014 the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the independence referendum. In particular, the thesis scrutinises the extent to which the staging of the Games in Scotland was exploited politically in relation to debates about Scotland s constitutional future. Given the importance of the referendum and its proximity to the Games, it is unsurprising that the event became intertwined with political positioning from parties on both sides of the constitutional debate. Utilising a novel methodological approach which synthesises analytical frameworks from the field of narrative analysis (Somers, 1994) and political discourse analysis (Fairclough and Fairclough, 2014), this thesis critically examines a range of political discourse sources produced by the five political parties represented in the Scottish Parliament, such as parliamentary speeches, press releases, manifestos and policy documents. Furthermore, the analysis of political discourse is complemented by analysis of nine interviews with MSPs from the respective political parties, namely the Scottish National Party, the Scottish Labour Party, the Scottish Conservatives, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Green Party. The findings of these complementary analyses are further interrogated through reference to existing academic literature on the relationship between nationalism, politics, sport and international sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games. The thesis identifies a number of emergent findings which make an original contribution to the study of the interconnection between sport, political nationalism and the Commonwealth Games, demonstrating the nuanced and contrasting narratives of the respective pro-independence and pro-union parties with respect to Scotland s constitutional future and the political ramifications of the Games for the independence referendum. These nuanced positions are demonstrated through consideration of: a) the contrasting narratives of the parties on the Games sporting and economic legacy; b) the political symbolism of the Games for Scotland s constitutional status; c) discourse asserting that the Games should remain an apolitical event; d) the nature of cross-party consensus supporting the Games; and, e) the role of the Games and sport in contemporary political communication. Given the emergence of numerous examples within this thesis whereby the Games became embroiled with political considerations, it is hoped that the prevailing political perceptions regarding the apolitical nature of sport can be challenged, thus allowing for a more diverse array of ideological approaches to the politics of sport.

The year 2014 welcomed two major events of national importance for Scotland, the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Scottish Independence Referendum. These national sporting and political events provided Scotland and its citizens with an opportunity to display the nation on the world stage and decide upon its geopolitical future. While the referendum was widely acknowledged as a significant ‘once in a generation' event for all voters, it also marked the first time extension of the franchise in a major UK public ballot to those aged 16 and 17 years old. Therefore, this thesis draws upon the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Independence Referendum as a lens to investigate understandings of youth citizenship and national identity among a generation of newly enfranchised 16 and 17 year old voters, living in the city of Glasgow, located at the epicentre of these events. First, the thesis examines how ideas of Scotland presented through the Games resonated with young people's conceptions of the nation. Second, the discussion explores how the Games and Referendum prompted young people to consider the future of the nation. Third, the thesis considers how young people mobilised their vote as newly enfranchised citizens through the Referendum. Fourth, the thesis aims to inform, and be informed by, current theories of the geographies of citizenship and national identity. Overall, the thesis concludes by providing a timely and original analysis of the geographies of youth citizenship and national identity through an exploration of the reconfigured interstitial political space that these young people occupied during the referendum.

This study examines the mobilisation and identity formation of the Scottish independence movement post-referendum. By analysing arguments, emotions and actions in support for independence, I aim to discuss how the movement make use of cultural perspectives on history for continuous mobilisation. The study focuses on the members of the umbrella organisation of Yes Scotland, which is a diverse network of activist and party-political groups. To understand the movement, I have made use of a political and active approach such as participating in meetings and at demonstrations. Importantly, while I acknowledge how the Scottish independence movement navigates within a discourse of nationalism because of its nationalist character, I argue that the movement mainly make use of an alternative ideology. This ideology is tied to historical narratives which are remade in present forms and take several expressions. For instance, I claim that this ideology generates the practice of international solidarity as well as a specific identity which is constructed and reproduced for one specific political project: to achieve Scottish independence. This thesis is a contribution to the study of social movements, as well as it provides understanding of reasoning beyond and within nationalism.

在目前國際社會中，社會變遷讓分裂主義成為一個全球普遍存在的時代議題。考慮到越來越多的國際組織出現，及世界潮流也逐步朝向無國界的道路發展，全球化在公民社會上也開始扮演另一個重要影響的角色。分裂主義和全球化本是兩個矛盾無法共融的概念，歐洲卻是表現這兩個概念間產生關聯的最好例子，歐盟各會員國透過一體化來展現力量，但歐洲中的一些國家及某些區域又具有強烈的分離主義，這兩者彼此是無法共通的，但是現實又已經形成交集，因此也導致出一個有趣的辯論與分析。 這些分裂主義運動不僅現時在歐洲各國擴散，在世界各國也形成一股風潮。英國、西班牙和加拿大這些國家，都處於分裂邊緣的發展，使單一國家的概念被大幅度挑戰。而分裂主義會成為如此熱門的議題，是因為最近世界經濟與社會的變化，鼓勵更多國家的公民與團體，往這麼個方向走出，如2014年克里米亞與烏克蘭分離事件、蘇格蘭公投，讓分離議題持續成為國際社會必須關注的焦點。蘇格蘭分裂主義的公投運動，自2014年以來一直是國際社會關注的焦點，主要的原因是這裡面意涵著，包含了兩個相互衝突的概念:蘇格蘭想要從英國獨立的分裂性，卻又支持全球化的互助性。因此，根據全球化分析加諸於分裂運動上的限制，將蘇格蘭做為全球化-分裂主義的個案研究，本研究提供有趣的見解與論斷，提供分裂運動各個面向的議題，在面臨全球化是否成為獨立成功可能性的參考。 / Separatism has never been as prevalent as it is now with the current shifts occurring in the international society. Globalization has been another prominent influence in the global community as well considering there have been more international institutions enacted and the world is increasingly becoming a borderless one. Separatism and globalization are two contradictory concepts and a prime example of the linkage between the two concepts can be seen through European integration and the regional separatist movements in Europe. Both are paradoxical and thus, they make for an interesting debate. Not only are these separatist movements widespread in countries of Europe but has become prominent in many countries all around the world. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Canada are on the verge of splitting up and with vivid alterations in society such as Putin’s annexation of Crimea and Scotland’s referendum in 2014, the topic of separatism has been at the forefront of the international community nowadays. Scotland’s separatist movement has been the one to watch since 2014 and the reason for this is because it encompasses both the conflicting concepts separatism and globalization considering Scotland supports globalization but also wishes for separation from the rest of the United Kingdom. Therefore, placing Scotland as the case study in the context of the globalization-separatism debate will offer interesting insights as to the constraints that globalization places on separatist movements, but also, the possibilities of a separatist movement becoming independent in the face of globalization.

This thesis conducts a case study on how the idea of a Scottish nation and Scottish independence have been constructed and changed within the political discourse produced by the Scottish National Party during the period around the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 and around the Brexit referendum in 2016. This will be done by conducting a textual analysis with a set of operational questions on written material produced by the Scottish National Party during the period of time previoulsy mentioned, based on the theoretical framework of social constructivism and nationalism with a focus on "imagined communities". The thesis concludes that the idea of Scotland as a nation and Scottish independence is seen as a substantially fairer and more solidary nation than its neighbour to the south, as well that some aspects of the perception of Scottish independence and Scotland's future have changed over the process from the independence referendum to the Brexit referendum.