Transforming a Nation by turning North: Scotland's external policy efforts to promote a new Northern Scottish identity

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For the past decade, Scottish leaders have been engaging in a proactive policy towards the Arctic region, pointing at cultural affinities and historical links with Nordic countries. This engagement toward the North occurs in the face of two major shifts: accelerated climate and geopolitical change in the Arctic; and Scotland's independence campaign.Complementing existing literature that focuses on how these shifts are being mobilised through Scottish Government initiatives that constitute a 'Northern Turn', this research will focus on the accompanying cultural transformation, asking how Scotland is promoting a renewed, Northern identity, and how this is perceived bythe Scottish people. In answering these questions I will be addressing whether there really is a 'Northern Turn' and, if so, whether or not this turning point in Scottish external policy extends to Scottish identity. These questions ultimately speak to broader questions about the relation between policy, on the one hand, and identity on the other and, even more broadly, between, on the one hand, politics (or state policy) and, on the other hand, culture. Using a theoretical framework at the intersection of Critical Geopolitics (CG) and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA), this research will mainly be conducted using a mixed-methods approach applying quantitative and qualitative tools to data derived from a variety ofsources including texts (including newspapers, maps, and policydocuments), elite interviews, and surveys administered at cultural events celebrating Scotland's northern linkages.