Devolution in a ‘Stateless Nation’: Nation-building and
Social Policy in Scotland
Alex Law and Gerry Mooney
Abstract
The implications of the Scottish election and the proposed referendum on Scottish independence
for the future of social policy across the devolved UK are profound but far from certain. It is crucial
to understand not only the historical nature of this conjuncture but to develop an adequate conceptual
understanding of the place of social policy in the dialectic between state and nation in Scotland. To
this end, we critically examine theories that depict Scotland as an essentially ‘stateless nation’ in the
light of recent developments. In so doing, we examine the implications for social policy of the
changing character of statehood in Scotland, the nature of civil nationalism, and the problem of
legitimacy in Scotland for the UK as a multinational state. As the architecture of statehood is
re-negotiated, strong centrifugal pressures are being created for a more distinct divergence of social
policy in Scotland from the rest of the UK regardless of the outcome of the independence referendum.
Policy-making is ensnared in a series of tensions, not just between Westminster and Holyrood but
also, more broadly, tensions between competing principles of social justice and territorial justice, and
competing demands between welfare nationalism and competitive nationalism.
Keywords
Scotland; Devolution; Class; Neo-liberalism; State; Nation
Introduction
Supporters of multinational states like the UK find that their narratives of
nationhood are routinely opposed by competing appeals to identity and
interests advanced by sub-state Nationalists. At the heart of the contest of the
Nationalisms in multinational states stands social policy. Sub-state National-
ists are concerned to convince ‘the nation’ that a radically different state
architecture will improve the prospects for collective solidarity and territorial
justice. A constant effort is made by Nationalist politicians to define the
collective identity of the national community, British and/or Scottish, as
Address for correspondence: Alex Law, Department of Sociology, University of Abertay Dundee DD
HG, Scotland. Email: a.law@abertay.ac.uk
S P &A 0144–5596
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9515.2011.00829.x
V. 46, N. 2, A 2012, . 161–177
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Garsington Road, Oxford OXDQ , UK and
Main Street, Malden, MA , USA