The Imagined Community of Scotland in the Narratives and Rhetoric of the Scottish National Party from the Independence Referendum to the Brexit Referendum : A Case Study of the Construction of a National Identity Within a Nation Region

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