Should I stay or should I go: a comparative analysis of Catalan and Scottish separatisms

Abstract

What are the differences between Catalonian and Scottish separatisms that resulted in different outcomes for the referendums in the 2010’s? This paper proposes a comparative study between the two regions’ path, making use of the path dependency concept. Our point is that the pattern of Spain and Catalunya’s relationship since annexation is centralized and repressive to Catalonian nationalism, and this is constant through history since it is costly to Spain to do otherwise. United Kingdom and Scotland’s relationship, on the other side, is marked by concessions of autonomy since the Union Act from the XVIII century. These distinctions allowed that the context of the referendum where different even though sustained by similar separatists’ arguments (identity, economy) and that the movements itself developed differently in their societies. Due to limitations of the technique applied here, our goal is not to stablish a causal relationship, but to sustain our argument as a hypothesis to the question the paper raises.

Keywords

• separatismo
• catalunha
• escócia