This is really valuable, especially the unpicking of common but unfounded assumptions. My own tuppence worth is that the influence of the media is overstated, but then I am generally sceptical of the overlap of media studies and politics. I think the discourse about Scotland's party political climate is the most convincing explanation. The SNP is (for now) the dominant party in Scotland and, like nationalist movements everywhere, binds together voters who otherwise would never in a million miles be in the same party. So the SNP - led by liberals and progressives - has a dampening effect on the worst attitudes of the most right-wing Scottish nationalists. Of course, an SNP led by a less liberal/progressive leader (as could very well happen and almost happened last time) could result in a very different set of outcomes. Nationalism is only as liberal as its leaders.
I wouldn't normally comment on anything in the political sphere, but has anyone accounted for the strong influence in everyday Scottish life of the Christian principle of loving your neighbour/strangers/outsiders embedded in Scottish life through the influence of education and religions?
Not mentioned in the article, but important: the Scottish Tories are also in favour of more immigration, for standard pro-business "how are we going to get workers in the Highlands' hospitality sector otherwise?" reasons. This may well in turn be reflected by different coverage in the Scottish editions of the right-wing press.
Good point Sam! To really get a handle on this, it would be valuable to examine systematically the differences in how the parties and the media in both countries discuss immigration. If the Scottish Conservatives have taken a consistent pro-immigration stance, that makes them very different from the Westminster Conservatives of recent years.
This is really valuable, especially the unpicking of common but unfounded assumptions. My own tuppence worth is that the influence of the media is overstated, but then I am generally sceptical of the overlap of media studies and politics. I think the discourse about Scotland's party political climate is the most convincing explanation. The SNP is (for now) the dominant party in Scotland and, like nationalist movements everywhere, binds together voters who otherwise would never in a million miles be in the same party. So the SNP - led by liberals and progressives - has a dampening effect on the worst attitudes of the most right-wing Scottish nationalists. Of course, an SNP led by a less liberal/progressive leader (as could very well happen and almost happened last time) could result in a very different set of outcomes. Nationalism is only as liberal as its leaders.
I wouldn't normally comment on anything in the political sphere, but has anyone accounted for the strong influence in everyday Scottish life of the Christian principle of loving your neighbour/strangers/outsiders embedded in Scottish life through the influence of education and religions?
Not mentioned in the article, but important: the Scottish Tories are also in favour of more immigration, for standard pro-business "how are we going to get workers in the Highlands' hospitality sector otherwise?" reasons. This may well in turn be reflected by different coverage in the Scottish editions of the right-wing press.
Good point Sam! To really get a handle on this, it would be valuable to examine systematically the differences in how the parties and the media in both countries discuss immigration. If the Scottish Conservatives have taken a consistent pro-immigration stance, that makes them very different from the Westminster Conservatives of recent years.