The research project ‘Fiction(s) of Political Participation’ discusses the role of culture and media in the constitutional debate on the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, with a specific focus on cultural engagement, grassroots activism and political participation. As such, it aims to collect and include the different voices of those who experienced and took part in the debate on Scottish independence – no matter their role in society and Scottish public life.

By comparing literary and media representations of ‘popular participation’ to first-hand accounts and statements by cultural and media elites as well as citizens, this project adds a crucial new dimension to the critical engagement with the different voices of the Scottish independence debate.

This includes also those voices that have been less frequently included in official media coverage and debate, on political stages and bookshelves. Therefore, this project seeks to record personal accounts and memories from citizens like yourself who experienced and participated in the debate. This will add crucial new perspectives to the ongoing debate on Scottish independence and its memorialization.

 

This PhD research project is conducted by Maike Dinger and supervised at the University of Stirling and the University of Strathclyde with support from the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities. In accordance with participants’ permission,  personal statements will be archived in co-operation with the Scottish Political Archive at the University of Stirling to enhance the archive’s collection of accounts from the 2014 independence campaign – a crucial and unfinished moment in recent Scottish cultural, social and political history.