ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the events that took place in Scotland between the 2007 financial crash and the Scottish National Party’s consolidation of power after the independence referendum of 2014. The chapter argues that the crisis of legitimacy that emerged after the financial crash led to a shift in traditional political assumptions in Scotland, resulting in the SNP’s rise to power despite being a centrist party with a history of supporting financial services deregulation. The chapter focuses on the concept of the imagined Scottish economy, outlined in previous chapters, and how it shaped the independence debate. The chapter is structured around themes developed in earlier chapters, including regional policy, the role of oil in nationalist economics, currency blocs and trading areas, business intervention, the imagination of the working class, and positive neoliberalism. It examines the conceptual implications of the economic imaginary, which is malleable but also coercive, making it difficult to conceive alternative paths. Ultimately, the chapter argues that the impetus for radical change in Scotland largely came about due to the Westminster parties’ desire to reduce the responsibilities of the state, which allowed the SNP to present themselves as a force of continuity.
