Aileen McHarg, Tom Mullen, Alan Page and Neil Walker (eds), The Scottish Independence Referendum: Constitutional and Political Implications
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2018.0474 |
| Published date | 01 January 2018 |
| Date | 01 January 2018 |
| Pages | 172-174 |
The 2014 Scottish Independence referendum has perhaps been rendered less dominant in our collective political memory since the vote to leave the European Union presaged a no less dramatic constitutional rupture. That development serves only to enhance the importance of this collection which treats the history and context of the independence vote, but incorporates throughout a firm focus on Scotland's constitutional future. Taken as a whole, the book sponsors a view of the referendum as an unrepeatable constitutional moment. Its mission is not though to historicise, but to contextualise the campaign and vote, and to posit futures in two senses: Scotland's possible constitutional place within or outside the Union in the wake of the vote; and the prospective standing which the 2014 referendum may secure within our emergent scholarly understanding of processes of constitutional change. In both respects the collection offers varied and engaging critiques, presenting perspectives from both sides of the political debate and through a range of disciplinary lenses: the contributors comprise lawyers, political scientists, historians and economists.
The first part of the book treats the historical and political background to the independence referendum. An introductory chapter by Tom Mullen captures vividly the state of constitutional uncertainty generated by the referendum and its aftermath. Colin Kidd and Malcom Petrie argue persuasively that the rise of nationalism was aided by missteps by particular UK governments (like the bedroom tax) which “facilitated a critique of the British state in
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