Diversity under Stress: exploring the effect of the independence referendum process on political attitudes towards immigration in sub-state nationalist regions

Peyton, Maggie Catherine (2017) Diversity under Stress: exploring the effect of the independence referendum process on political attitudes towards immigration in sub-state nationalist regions. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the link between independence referenda and minority nationalist discourses on immigration in Quebec, Catalonia, and Scotland. I demonstrate that the referendum period acts as lock-in mechanism that secures minority nationalist discourses towards immigration. Importantly, political frames used throughout the referenda play a role in the development of either an accepting or a sceptical narrative toward immigration. Through process tracing and discourse analysis, I note the development of a skeptical narrative toward immigration in Quebec, whereas I observe a more accepting or accommodating rhetoric in the Catalan and Scottish cases. The latter two cases extend beyond civic and ethnic studies of nationalism into an analysis of political mobilization by the sub-state nationalist parties throughout the referendum period.

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