Belonging and Becoming: National Identity and Exclusion

Abstract

This article considers how the increasing national and ethnic diversity typical of many contemporary societies relates to conceptions of national identity in such societies. Particular concern is given to the extent to which these conceptions are likely to include or exclude those characterized by ‘difference’ in terms of their national or ethnic origins. Contemporary survey evidence is used to explore exclusion from a specific national identity - Scottishness. The findings show that for two key minority groups, access to a Scottish identity can be undermined by the perspectives of the majority, who are likely to have a more straightforward sense of this identity. At the same time, the agency which people have in determining their own identities is illustrated, not least by an evident process of ‘becoming’ Scottish among a small minority who were neither born in Scotland nor have Scottish parents.