'Anyone But England‘, Glasgow 2014 and the Independence Referendum: Exploring the Role of Narratives in the Sociological Study of Scottish Sport.

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.

Political Discourse Analysis, Sport and Scottish Independence: Provisional Reflections upon Fairclough and Fairclough's (2012) Analytical Framework.

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.