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Language
English (en)
Date of Award
5-2024
Author's Department
International and Area Studies
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)
Restricted/Unrestricted
Restricted
Abstract
Nationalism is a prominent political movement in Western Europe and across the world, however nationalist parties vary widely on how they construct belonging in a nation. Scholars and some political parties have addressed this difference by categorizing nationalist political parties as civic or ethnic. Scholars and political parties portray civic nationalist political parties as inclusive and argue that they build their nations through shared democratic values while ethnic nationalist parties are portrayed as building a nation through a shared ethnicity or culture. However, other research has criticized the notion of civic nationalism and argued that civic nationalist parties are still exclusionary. I analyze the migration policies of two supposedly civic nationalist political parties the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV) and the Scottish National Party (SNP) to determine if they are truly civic nationalists or if they remain attached to ethnic nationalism. I analyzed the migration positions in the parties’ manifestos to determine how they construct who belongs in the Scottish and Basque nations. My findings show that both parties still rely on ethnicity or cultural traits to create their nations and mobilize their supporters. Additionally, Muslim migrants are perceived as being the biggest “outsiders” in these regions. The EAJ-PNV expects migrants to adopt Basque cultural traits, such as learning the Basque language and playing traditional Basque sports, and the SNP prioritizes the inclusion of Western European migrants, or those that are culturally like them, in their nation. My research demonstrates that sub-state civic nationalist movements can be exclusionary towards migrants, especially non-white/Western European migrants, in their nation’s construction. This conclusion leads me to argue that a party’s designation as a civic nationalist party does not mean it automatically welcomes migrants into their nation. Furthermore, my research questions the idea of civic nationalism in practice and demonstrates how it is a contradictory idea. However, I argue that striving for civic nationalism can lead nations to be more inclusive of migrants and broaden the definition of who belongs in their nation.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7936/k9dd-zn69
Mentor
Tabea Linhard
Recommended Citation
Woodruff, Emily, "How Civic Are They? A Comparative Analysis of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV) and the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Migration Policies" (2024). Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses. 264.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.7936/k9dd-zn69
Comments
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