國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y 1. Introduction
Separatism and globalization have been at the forefront of the global community with the current shifts that the international society has been undergoing. The reason behind these two concepts being prevalent among the global society is because the regional integration in which globalization causes has been countered by regional separatist movements and this in turn subsequently creates the globalization-separatism debate. An interesting debate is produced by these two concepts considering both on different sides of the spectrum and are paradoxical to each other, however, they seem to be inextricably tied to each other. Therefore, by placing Scotland in the context of the globalization-separatism debate, it will produce even more stimulating issues and topics within the debate.
1.1 Research Background and Motivation
1.1.1 Research Background
Separatism has been around for centuries, yet it has only begun to gain momentum again in recent years due to the referendums produced by Scotland and Catalonia. Currently, there are dozens of ongoing separatist movements in all of the continents, such as Somaliland in Africa;
Chechnya in Eurasia; Basque Country and Flanders in Europe; Quebec in Canada; and, Bolivia in The Americas, just to name a few. However, cases of separatist movements actually succeeding have been few and far between over the previous decades with some of the examples being: the separation of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia; and, the Kosovo Declaration for Independence in 2008 – though this was met with opposition from Serbia, nonetheless, it still succeeded due to international approval. Not only does this make it difficult for researchers to conduct comparative studies between separatist movements since history holds little precedence for separatist movements aiming for independence, it also at the same time creates obstacles because every country’s situation diversifies and the rules for independence to
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
one country may not apply to another. Thus, researching separatist movements is still somewhat of an unchartered territory. With the economic downturn in 2008 and the slow climb back to recovery, separatist movements have been anxious to gain independence from their metropolitan counterparts in the hopes that their economy will become more stable if they were to take governance into their own hands. Despite the challenges faced when conducting research for separatist movements, this thesis aims to examine the separatist movement of Scotland in the debate between separatism and globalization.
The international relations theory of globalization is of utmost importance to the topic of separatism and for studying the cases of separatist movements. It has been widely reported that one impact of globalization is that there have been a rise in the number of separatist movements and globalization provides the factors to determine the likelihood of whether a separatist movement will be able to become independent. The process of globalization has enabled a dramatic change in countries which have nationalist tendencies. Interestingly, Europe - which has a deep focus on European integration – contains several regional nationalist movements striving for independence. Paradoxical as this may be, countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and Canada are on the very verge of splitting up. A long-running discussion has been occurring between scholars about the relationship between globalization and separatism. Some argue that there is no causal link between the two in that globalization does not cause more separatist movements to arise while others contend that there is indeed a relationship between them in that where there is a wider spread of globalization, the rate of separatist movements will rise as the citizens’ discontent with society will grow.1
Aspects of separatism can be explained through theories of nationalism as they enable us to determine the origins and effects of separatism. Nationalist theories, such as modernity, primordialism, and nationalism, explain the meaning behind nations and nation-states and these nationalist theories aid us in comprehending the role of separatism in the
globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization- globalization-
1 Rosecrance, R. N., and Stein, A. A. (2006), No More States? Globalization, National Self-Determination, and Terrorism, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, p. 6
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
separatism debate. However, this does not mean to say that a state which is nationalist will become or foster a separatist movement. By understanding the theories of nationalism, this thesis will be able to understand some of the foundations behind separatism, and then, this study can further discuss separatism in the context of globalization.
1.1.2 Motivation
In a world that is moving increasingly towards integration and globalization, the trend towards separatism seems to be a far-fetched notion, yet it has been gaining traction in international society. Scotland has become the most representative case for separatist movements considering it has become the closest to achieving independence after Westminster Parliament granted Scotland the right to a referendum. The referendum was held in Scotland in 2014, where Scottish people were able to vote yes or no to independence. The referendum brought on an onslaught of campaigns from political parties but also, from movements of Better Together and Yes! Independence, on the subject of: staying together as a union or being independent. The debates were lively and it had been the main focus of the people of Scotland for more than two years since in 2012, the Edinburgh Agreement concluded that the referendum was to be held in 2014. The vote resulted in a marginal difference of 55% against independence and a 45% for independence.2 The referendum was meticulously monitored by separatist movements in surrounding European countries who were eager for independence themselves. The referendum would have a huge impact on not only the United Kingdom, but also, on the rest of the international community thus, making it a stimulating topic for this thesis.
However, what really piqued the interest of this thesis was the research on the globalization-separatism debate. Separatism has been argued as becoming less and less significant and is having difficulty surviving in a world where globalization is rife. However,
2 BBC News, “Scotland Votes No,” http://www.bbc.com/news/events/scotland-decides/results [Last Accessed:
November 30th 2015]
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
others do not believe it to be so and argue that globalization actually creates separatism and is becoming increasingly important in international society. Thought-provoking questions are asked throughout the whole debate:
• “Is there a positive relationship between globalization and separatism?”
• “Does globalization support separatism?”
• “Is it easy for national self-determinist countries to become independent if they support globalization? Take Scotland for example, it actively supports globalization and wishes to be a part of the EU even after becoming independent, however, will it be easy for them to achieve independence if they support globalization?”
• “Does globalization prevent national self-determination?”3
These questions present a new perspective when discussing the cases of separatist movements as they place a set of different factors and restrictions upon the separatist movements aiming for independence. The elements imposed from the globalization-separatism debate differ vastly to the domestic aspects that could push for the creation of separatist movements.
Prevention of a separatist movement succeeding could be down to globalization instead of the domestic governments blocking the path for these separatist movements. In addition to this, creation of separatist movements can be attributed to globalization considering some national groups feel that the effects of globalization are detrimental to their society and are actually imposed upon them rather than it being something they needed, thus, these national groups would fight back against globalization resulting in separatist movements.4 More on this will be explored in Chapter 3.
3 Rosecrance, R. N., and Stein, A. A. (2006), No More States? Globalization, National Self-Determination, and Terrorism, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, p. 6-11
4 Godfrey, C., “The Struggle Between Nationalism and Globalization (Part 1),” New Right Australia/New Zealand, August 27th 2008, http://www.newrightausnz.com/2008/08/27/the-struggle-between-nationalism-globalization-part-1-by-colin-godfrey/ [Last Accessed: November 30th 2015]
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Literature focused on the globalization-separatism debate is scarce considering separatism only began to gain attention again over the past few years. The reason why Scotland was specifically chosen as the main case study for exploration and to put the globalization-separatism debate into context is because, not only was its referendum recent and considered a success even though it did not attain the “Yes” vote, but also, Scotland heavily supports both globalization and separatism. Therefore, this thesis hopes to be able to provide basis for further knowledge on this topic, especially by using Scotland as a case study example to illustrate evidence of the globalization-separatism phenomenon.