National independence and European integration
Scotland’s and Catalonia’s democratic challenges to the political order in the European Union.
This project addresses central, yet often overlooked, questions in the study of European integration and democratic governance in the EU: what explains the support for national independence of non-sovereign regions in EU member states, and why do pro-independence parties seek independence when the EU offers enhanced political influence and economic benefits to regions and when independence might even entail the loss of EU membership? By focusing on how visions of national independence are linked discursively and in practice to notions of European integration and democracy in a comparative case study of pro-independence parties in Catalonia and Scotland – the two most salient cases in the EU at present – the project seeks to provide an original and timely contribution to the research agenda on the challenges to and possible renewal of democratic governance in contemporary Europe.
Period: 2018-2020
Funder: Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, 2 800 000 SEK
Participants:
Niklas Bremberg, UI (project leader)
Richard Gillespie, Liverpool University