Regional Movements in Britain: A Review of Aims and Status

In this paper the activities of regional and nationalist movements in Britain are analysed with respect to five hypotheses: The degree and form of representation, including the role of elites; the extent of participation in regional identity; the form of existing and desired forms of decentralisation; the extent of specificness of regional issues; and the extent of central economic and political dominance. Seven major areas are analysed: Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles, Cornwall, Wessex, the North, and North Devon, with some analysis also of Scotland and Wales. The existence of a considerable level of participation in regional identity in some regions, and a remarkable degree of success, by working through existing institutions, of movements in Shetland, Orkney, and North Devon will be demonstrated. For other regions, however, participation is ‘dormant’.