• University of Edinburgh
• School of Social and Political Studies

Institute of Governance

• Quick Links
• Login
• Search

Qualifications

• MA (University of Edinburgh)
• MSc (University of Edinburgh)

Principal interests

Over recent years, we have established Edinburgh as a major centre for research in the study of Scotland, and in the sociology of nationalism and national identity. This is very much a collaborative effort, and the Edinburgh National Identity group (ENIG) is keen to attract enthusiastic and skilled PhD students to work with us and to develop shared ideas and interests. We have a record of providing high quality supervision, and of helping students to complete PhD theses of the highest calibre. We would be pleased to encourage applications in the following areas:

• the sociology and politics of Scotland
• governance and civil society in Scotland
• the sociology of nationalism
• national identity

Biographical statement

My own research on the sociology of Scotland and the sociology of nationalism and national identity has benefited greatly from working with other people in a mutually supportive and enthusiastic research environment. More recently our work together has focused on national identity, and, in particular, the ways in which people construct and negotiate these and other identities for themselves. In this work, we have used large-scale surveys, ethnographies and qualitative interviews. Since 1999, we have been involved in a major programme of research on national identity in the context of constitutional change, funded by The Leverhulme Trust. This research has allowed us to explore, for example, the degree to which setting up the Scottish parliament has had an impact on national identity, not only in Scotland but also in England. Currently, I am seconded as co-director of the Institute of Governance.

Selected publications

Living in Scotland: social and economic changes since 1980 (Edinburgh University Press, in press, 2004) (with Lindsay Paterson and Frank Bechhofer)

'Who do you say you are? Making sense of national identities in modern Britain', in Ethnicities 2(3), 2002, 301-20

Understanding Scotland: the sociology of a nation (Routledge, 2001; 2nd edition)

New Scotland; New Politics? (E.U.P. 2001)

'Keepers of the Land: Ideology and Identities in the Scottish Rural Elite', in Identities, 8(3), 2001, 381-409 (with Robert Stewart, Frank Bechhofer, and Richard Kiely)

The Sociology of Nationalism: Tomorrow’s Ancestors, (Routledge, 1998)

The Scottish Electorate: the 1997 general election and beyond, (Macmillan, 1999) (with Alice Brown, Lindsay Paterson and Paula Surridge)

Politics and Society in Scotland, (Macmillan, 1996 and 1998)

Scotland the Brand: the Making of Scottish Heritage, (E.U.P. 1995)

The Making of Scotland (ed.) (E.U.P. 1989)

Property and Power in a City (Macmillan, 1989) (with B. Elliott)

The City: Patterns of Domination and Conflict (Macmillan, 1982) (with B. Elliott).

On-line publications by David McCrone can be found on the Institute of Governance site.