The Uses and Abuses of National Stereotypes

English is undoubtedly a shorthand for some complex and contradictory terms. (Perhaps the reader should pause and ask what the term conjures up to her or him.) Why has nationality been employed to make sense of social change? (David McCronc 1994) Holland was... a nation of flower-arrang ing nomographers. Danes were deprcssives and Swedes racked with guilt; earnest souls with birch twigs. Greeks were self-centred, Italians fancied their chances. Turks were sexcrazed and the French were unspeakable bastards. There wasn't a decent national stereotype left in the whole of fucking Europe. (Janice Galloway 1995, p.55) The importance of national stereotypes lies not in whether they reflect a reality, past or present, but whether they are part of our consciousness and, as such, may influence behaviour. This is obviously a significant issue in the study of territorial politics. The dynamics of nationalist and regionalist movements may originate in economic and social change but without some perception of an historical, cultural or geographical identity which is distinctive, political action could not take the same form. The study of the construction and reinforcement of such identity has been a rather neglected area in political sociology. It has been more characterised by theoretical speculation than by research. This small study of Anglo-Scottis h stereotypes is a contribution to this and I would hope it might stimulate other projects so that we could build up a more substantial body of material to inform our analysis.