North Sea oil discoveries introduced a qualitative divide that gave rise to at least the prospect of an economically viable Scottish independence, insofar as it made the “Scottish economy” a legitimate point of contestation on constitutional lines. In turn, this problematised the nature of minority nationalism in advanced, developed, post-imperial capitalist regional economies. The research assesses how economic factors – most notably oil – materially affected the prospects of asserting power, and thus the possibilities for imagining collective agency as a national (i.e. Scottish) project. Oil helped shift “New Left” thinking away from assimilationist and modernising projects of assimilating regional consciousness into “national” projects, while also inspiring outright nationalists to define their own project in relation to the earlier phases of nationalism. The study thus contributes to recentring the study of Scotland, with a smaller emphasis on the local dimension and identities, as against the role of national actors in untangling relationships with wider geopolitical and geo-economic forces. The claim is not simply that global forces formed the qualitative divide that made nationalist action possible; but also that these were conscious considerations of actors in the aftermath of North Sea discoveries.

中文翻译：

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石油与机构：苏格兰与国家想象的物质条件

北海石油的发现带来了质的鸿沟，至少使苏格兰独立在经济上可行的前景出现了，因为它使“苏格兰经济”成为宪法界线的合法争论点。反过来，这对先进的、发达的、后帝国主义的区域经济体中少数民族主义的性质提出了质疑。该研究评估了经济因素——尤其是石油——如何对行使权力的前景产生实质性影响，从而评估将集体机构想象为国家（即苏格兰）项目的可能性。石油帮助“新左派”思想从将区域意识融入“国家”项目的同化主义和现代化项目转变，同时也鼓励彻头彻尾的民族主义者根据民族主义的早期阶段来定义他们自己的项目。因此，该研究有助于重新集中苏格兰的研究，较少强调地方维度和身份，而不是国家行为者在理清与更广泛的地缘政治和地缘经济力量的关系中的作用。该主张不仅仅是全球力量形成了使民族主义行动成为可能的质的鸿沟；而且这些都是演员在北海发现之后有意识的考虑。该主张不仅仅是全球力量形成了使民族主义行动成为可能的质的鸿沟；而且这些都是演员在北海发现之后有意识的考虑。该主张不仅仅是全球力量形成了使民族主义行动成为可能的质的鸿沟；而且这些都是演员在北海发现之后有意识的考虑。