Maike Dinger

HEI: University of Stirling

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

What was your research about?

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.

Informed by interviews with campaigners and public engagement activities, this thesis first discusses the limitations of popular participation and political voice in relation to grassroots mobilisation and activism. It does so by analysing representations of popular participation in indyref literature and the press, scrutinising the referendum as a media spectacle and discursive moment. Building on the rhetorical limitations and elite performances of popular participation identified in these representations, this thesis shows that public debate adhered closely to established myths of Scottish political culture circulating in the Scottish public sphere. This elite dominance is shown to extend to the digital politics of participation
on social media.

Indeed, analysis of literary and media representations and Twitter activity
suggests that the referendum rarely facilitated popular deliberation and dialogue. Instead, popular participation was 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.