A myth of popular participation? Discourse and the politics of representation in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum

Abstract

This thesis examines the mythologisation of popular participation during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum debate. Specifically, it analyses how the referendum was constructed, represented, and performed as a participatory moment in media and political discourse. On this basis, it examines how an elite-driven myth of mass political participation was enacted and (re-)claimed by different actors within the public sphere. It demonstrates that participatory engagement with “indyref” was incorporated into identarian and partisan political narratives of progressiveness, empowerment, and democratisation during and after the referendum debate, and finds that the Scottish political, media, and cultural spheres were discursively situated alongside and in conflict with each other. Using a mixed-methods approach, this thesis combines oral history interviews, public engagement, and an analysis of literary texts with media and critical discourse analysis to address popular participation in the referendum. Whereas previous studies have celebrated a colourful image of popular participation as a self-evident sign of democratisation and empowerment, this thesis attends to its discursive production. By contextualising the referendum historically and politically, this thesis first shows that public debate adhered closely to established myths of Scottish political culture circulating in the mediated Scottish public sphere. Against this backdrop, it analyses representations of popular participation in the press and in indyref literature, scrutinising the referendum as a media spectacle and discursive moment. The analysis of media and literary representations of popular participation suggests that the referendum rarely facilitated political deliberation and dialogue and instead identifies elite prescriptions of popular participation. This thesis discusses these limitations to popular participation, public debate, and political voice in relation to grassroots mobilisation and activism, informed by interviews with campaigners and public engagement activities. Building on the rhetorical limitations and elite performances of popular participation identified in literary and media representations as well as online and offline grassroots activism, popular participation is shown to be performed by political, media, and cultural elites and articulated through cultural representatives and symbolism. Although the myth of popular participation remains compelling, it has yet to affect the progressive politics it imagines.