ABSTRACT
A consequence of the devolved polity that now confronts us within the UK is that matters of identity – who we think we are, and where and to whom we owe our allegiance – are assuming greater importance than in the past. For much of the last century, for example, class identification was a major tool for analysing support for the political parties and the reasons for political conflict. In the new century, however, identity politics concerned with civic and ethnic nationality are likely to be more dominant in our understanding of these questions. This chapter looks at how competing ideas of identity are influencing the position of Wales within the UK and Europe. It examines the background to the decisive 1997 devolution referendum – in which the Welsh population voted for a degree of self-government – and explains why the outcome was so different from what had taken place in the earlier referendum of 1979. Following this, the way geographic divisions within Wales bear on Welsh identity are explored. Opinion poll evidence suggests that in future the Welsh are likely to emphasise different aspects of their identity when voting for their different tiers of democratic governance: at the Welsh, British and European levels.
