Stuart Whigham

This article reflects upon the potential analytical utility of synthesising contrasting methodological frameworks when conducting research on sport policy and politics, with specific reference to methods derived from the fields of critical discourse analysis, political discourse analysis and narrative analysis. In particular, this article critically reflects upon the political discourse analysis framework proposed by Isabela Fairclough and Norman Fairclough (2012), and the narrative analysis framework proposed by Margaret Somers (1994), drawing upon the findings of research which synthesised these distinct yet complementary analytical frameworks. With its central emphasis on the content and production of political discourse relating to the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Scottish independence referendum, the methodological processes used in this thesis focused upon the identification of recurrent discursive forms from primary and secondary data sources including interviews with political actors, speech transcripts, manifestos, policy documents and press releases. Given the methodological synthesis evident in this approach, this article firstly provides a discussion of the paradigmatic assumptions of this analytical synthesis. Discussion then focuses on the provision of a more detailed outline of the Fairclough and Fairclough (2012) and Somers (1994) frameworks, and an explanation of the synthesis of the specific analytical frameworks adopted and the specific empirical methods employed. Finally, this article provides a reflexive critique of the relative merits of the chosen methodology, with specific consideration given to the promises and challenges of synthesising analytical frameworks in a similar fashion in future research within the field of sport policy and politics.

This article critically considers the extent to which sporting issues were harnessed by pro-independence political campaigners during the Scottish independence referendum campaign. Developments such as the inclusion of sport within the Scottish Government’s White Paper on Scottish independence, the establishment of the ‘Working Group on Scottish Sport’ and the establishment of the ‘Sport for Yes’ campaign group demonstrate the harnessing of sporting issues as an additional, if somewhat peripheral, debate point in the referendum campaigns . The latter of these developments, the establishment of the ‘Sport for Yes’ campaign group, is of particular interest, offering evidence of the explicit political mobilisation of past and present athletes in support of the ‘Yes Scotland’ pro-independence campaign. The use of sport within pro-independence political discourse is therefore scrutinised, drawing upon the principles of critical discourse analysis to explore the ideological assumptions underpinning the discursive representation of sport in relation to Scottish independence.

Scots have played a significant part in the global diffusion of sport. One thinks for example of William McGregor who founded the Football League in England in 1886 or his much less well known compatriots such as the members of the Örgryte team who, in 1892, took part in the first ever football game to be played in Sweden. Other Scots have subsequently sought fame and fortune by following sporting careers, both within the United Kingdom and further afield. Notable amongst the latter are Edinburgh-born Tommy Armour who moved to the United States in the early 1920s where he became a professional golfer and went on to win the US Open Championship in 1927 and the USPGA Championship in 1930 and, more recently, Andy Murray who left his native Dunblane for Spain where he developed into one of the world’s leading tennis players. Despite such notable exceptions, however, the number of Scots who have migrated purely for sporting reasons is relatively small. Most have left their native shores for economic reasons, many of them thereafter experiencing sport either by immersing themselves in the sporting culture of their new home or by maintaining their links with Scotland or even by combining the two as evidenced in the growth of the Highland Games movement in the furthest outposts of the world. Following on from a brief discussion of the general relationship between sport and diaspora, the chapter focuses primarily on the lived sporting experience of Scottish migrants, not as elite performers, but as fans.

We will explore the significance of sport for Scottish migrants in maintaining a bond with their homeland whilst experiencing life in various locations and cultures.  Although this issue has received relatively little attention in academic literature in the past in comparison to other notable diasporic groups, we will summarise the findings of existing studies focusing on the importance of sport to the Scottish diaspora in a number of contrasting contexts.  Analysis of these findings will demonstrate variety within the Scots diaspora in terms of their engagement with Scottish sport, highlighting the influence of geographic, cultural and personal factors in creating context-specific challenges for Scots migrants.  When juxtaposed with arguments made about other diasporic groups which have received more consideration in relation to sport, in particular the Irish diaspora, the discussion of these studies will assist in developing an argument that the manner in which Scots use sport to maintain links with the home nation and ‘Scottish identity’ is distinctive although not necessarily unique.

Sport has been argued to play an important role for members of diasporic groups of various origins and in various locations. However, little attention has been paid to the role sport plays for ‘internal migrants’ who migrate to contrasting locations within a nation-state, despite the potential for significant contrasts in the prevailing sporting cultures found in different regions of the same nation-state. This article therefore aims to make a contribution towards understanding this relationship by reflecting upon the role sport plays for members of the Scottish diaspora living in England, drawing upon interviews and personal reflections from a number of Scottish ‘internal migrants’ located within the United Kingdom. In particular, discussion attempts to draw attention to the central role sport plays for these individuals in order to maintain a cultural attachment with their Scottish birthplace, given the relative lack of other cultural practices or associations which could be used to achieve this goal. Comparisons are also drawn with studies of the Scottish diaspora in more distant geographic contexts, as well as similar diasporic groups in the English context such as the Irish diaspora. These comparisons allow for a consideration of the impact of geographic proximity and cultural proximity on the relative importance of sport and other cultural practices for Scots living in England, identifying a number of important issues for those studying the role played by sport in the maintenance of a cultural attachment with ‘home’ for various diasporic groups.

This article explores the reasons behind the expression of anti-English sentiment by Scots in relation to both sporting and wider social contexts, whilst also considering the impact of migration to England on the attitudes expressed by members of the Scottish diaspora. Drawing upon the conceptual framework of ‘narrative identity’ proposed elsewhere, data was generated through semi-structured interviews which focused upon the ‘ontological’ and ‘public’ narratives of Scottish identity as expressed by Scots living in England. The findings demonstrate the influence of a wide range of personal, social, historical and political factors in highlighting the cleavage between Scotland and England within the context of sport and society, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the complex relationship between these two nations in the context of sporting rivalry. This relationship is argued to be heavily influenced by the existence of an ‘underdog mentality’-style grand ‘public narrative’ for Scots in relation to their English neighbours, based on perceived differences in economic and sporting resources between the two countries. This ‘underdog mentality’ therefore acts as a legitimating force for the expression of anti-English sentiment in both a sporting and wider social context as part of some individuals’ ‘ontological narrative’, although the extent of such sentiment was found to vary significantly between individuals and contrasting contexts.

This paper will critically consider the implications for Scottish athletes who have publicly stated their personal opinion on the Scottish independence referendum.  Developments such as the inclusion of sport within the Scottish Government’s White Paper on Scottish independence, the establishment of the ‘Working Group on Scottish Sport’ and the establishment of the ‘Sport for Yes’ campaign group demonstrate the harnessing of sporting issues as an additional, if somewhat peripheral, debate point in the referendum campaigns (Lafferty, 2014; Scottish Government, 2013; Working Group on Scottish Sport, 2013, 2014).  The latter of these developments, the establishment of the ‘Sport for Yes’ campaign group, is of particular interest, offering evidence of the explicit political mobilisation of past and present athletes in support of the ‘Yes Scotland’ pro-independence campaign.  Whilst the pro-union ‘Better Together’ campaign does not possess a comparable group to the ‘Sport for Yes’ example, examples of athletes discussing the potential negative impact of Scottish independence on the funding and organisation of Scottish sport have been capitalised upon by pro-union campaigners, as exemplified in the comments of Sir Chris Hoy (BBC, 2013; Daily Record, 2013a).  Given the negative reaction to Hoy’s comments from certain pro-independence campaigners (Daily Record, 2013b; Swanson, 2013), other Scottish athletes have understandably attempted to avoid controversy by refusing to align with either side of the referendum debate.  This paper will therefore consider the potential pitfalls for athletes who publicly announce their political positions, whilst also scrutinising the extent to which such pronouncements are of political significance, drawing upon past academic analyses of the interrelationship between sport and politics (e.g. Coghlan, 1990; Houlihan, 1994; Jeffreys, 2012; Macfarlane, 1986; Whannel, 2008).

In September 2014, a historic referendum on the issue of Scottish independence was held, with the potential to dissolve the political union between Scotland and the other constituent nations of the United Kingdom which had survived intact since the 1707 Act of Union.  On a significantly high electoral turnout of 84.6%, the Scottish electorate opted to reject the proposals of the governing party in the devolved Scottish Parliament, the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), to create an independent Scottish state, with 55.3% of the electorate voting ‘No’ to Scottish independence against a 44.7% ‘Yes’ vote.  In the grand scheme of the Scottish independence referendum campaigns, sports policy remained a somewhat peripheral issue within the arguments forwarded by the Yes Scotland and Better Together campaigns.  Nonetheless, developments such as the formation of the 'Sport for Yes' campaign sub-group, the inclusion of sport within the Scottish Government’s White Paper on Scottish independence and the establishment of the Working Group on Scottish Sport demonstrated that the potential implications of independence were still deemed significant enough to merit a degree of policy planning by the Scottish Government (Lafferty, 2014; Scottish Government, 2013; Working Group on Scottish Sport, 2013, 2014).  This paper will critically consider the implications of the 'No' vote in the Scottish independence referendum for the latter of these developments, the policy proposals of the Working Group for Scottish Sport.  Drawing upon the principles of critical discourse analysis, specifically the analytical framework proposed by Fairclough and Fairclough (2012), the content of this group's proposal will be examined in order to critically explore the policy for Scottish sport it envisaged for an independent Scottish state.  The paper will then conclude by reflecting upon the extent to which elements of this political 'imaginary' (Fairclough and Fairclough, 2012) of Scottish sport remain a possibility for future sports policy in Scotland following the eventual 'No' vote in the referendum.
References:
Fairclough, I. and Fairclough, N. (2012) Political Discourse Analysis: A Method for Advanced Students.  London: Routledge.

Lafferty, S. (2014) ‘Stars of sport say Yes to an independent Scotland’, Yes Scotland.  Available at: http://www.yesscotland.net/news/stars-sport-say-yes-independent-scotland.  Accessed on 14/7/2014.

Scottish Government (2013) Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland.  Edinburgh: Scottish Government.  Available at: http://www.scotland.
gov.uk/Publications/2013/11/9348/downloads.  Accessed on 14/7/2014.

Working Group on Scottish Sport (2013) Working Group on Scottish Sport Interim Statement.  Edinburgh: Scottish Government.  Available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0043/00437896.pdf.  Accessed on 14/7/2014.

Working Group on Scottish Sport (2014) Working Group on Scottish Sport: The continuing development of Scottish sport – including the impact of independence.  Edinburgh: Scottish Government.  Available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/
Resource/0044/00449792.pdf.  Accessed on 14/7/2014.

This paper aims to reflect upon the potential analytical utility of the political discourse analysis framework proposed by Isabela Fairclough and Norman Fairclough (2012). This framework represents the most recent substantive development upon Norman Fairclough's past work situated within the wider school of Critical Discourse Analysis, building upon his influential position this methodological tradition. Central to this development is the additional emphasis placed upon the necessity to conceptualise all political discourse as 'argumentative' in nature, given that political actors are ultimately proposing or refuting particular courses of concrete future action. This paper will therefore apply Fairclough and Fairclough's model to provisional data derived from an ongoing doctoral thesis which considers the nature of political discourse relating to sport, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and Scottish independence, with an ultimate aim of critically considering the benefits and limitations of applying this analytical framework as a methodological tool within this ongoing study.

This paper explores the political reaction to Lord McConnell’s appeal for a political ‘truce’ in the form of a temporary halt to campaigning by all political parties and organisations involved in the debate regarding the Scottish independence referendum during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games (BBC, 2014; McConnell, 2014).  Urging both sides of the debate to cease campaigning for the two-week period of the Glasgow 2014 games, the current Labour peer and past First Minister of the Scottish Parliament cited concerns that there are “genuine concerns that the Games, and the image of Scotland, could be damaged by attempts by either side – for and against – to use the Games to promote their cause, or to use the venues for campaigning” (McConnell, 2014).  Drawing upon the principles of both a critical discourse and a narrative analysis methodological approach, this paper will scrutinise the nature of the political reactions to McConnell’s proposal from a variety of perspectives on both sides of the independence referendum debate.  In particular, the emphasis in the responses from both sides of the debate regarding the apolitical nature of the 2014 Games will be critiqued, drawing upon the arguments of past analyses of sporting mega-events which highlight the potential for political exploitation of such events by the host nations (e.g. Horne, 2007; Grix, 2012; Houlihan and Giulianotti, 2012; Roche, 2006).  Furthermore, the findings of academic research on the political implications of hosting the Commonwealth Games will be considered (e.g. Majumdar and Mehta, 2010; Van Der Westhuizen, 2004; Macintosh and Greenhorn, 1992; Majumdar, 2011; Lockstone and Baum, 2010; Macfarlane and Herd, 1986), highlighting a number of precedents which demonstrate the numerous challenges faced in any attempts to the keep the 2014 Games free from political influence.

Drawing upon the findings of my MSc dissertation and the proposed methodology for my current PhD thesis, this paper will critically reflect upon the potential uses of narrative analysis within the sociological study of sport.  The majority of this paper will consider the expression of anti-English sentiment by Scots in relation to both sporting and wider social contexts.  Drawing upon the conceptual framework of ‘narrative identity’ proposed by Somers (1994), data was generated through semi-structured interviews focusing upon the ‘ontological’ and ‘public’ narratives of Scottish identity as expressed by Scots living in England.  The relationship between Scotland and England is argued to be heavily influenced by the existence of an ‘underdog mentality’ grand ‘public narrative’ for Scots in relation to their English neighbours, based on perceived differences in economic and sporting resources.  This ‘underdog mentality’ is argued to act as a legitimating force for the expression of anti-English sentiment within an individual’s ‘ontological narrative’ in both a sporting and wider social context.  The paper concludes by reflecting upon the benefits of adopting a narrative analysis approach, and outlining the proposed use of similar methods within my PhD research on the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Scottish independence referendum.