Populism in Borders: A Comparison of Nationalist Discourses in the UK and Spain at a State and Regional Level

This paper sheds light on the interplay of bordering and populist discourses in the United Kingdom and Spain. De-bordering and re-bordering strategies have gained salience recently in these countries. Far-right parties, such as the Brexit Party, UKIP and Vox, have focused their efforts on the reinforcement of national sovereignty and territorial borders, and specifically on the adoption of restrictive immigration policies as ways to shield society form the cultural and economic impacts of globalisation. Meanwhile, sub-state nationalist movements in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Catalonia and the Basque Country have also engaged in very active re-bordering practices in their quest for political independence. Although the competing re-bordering strategies of these state- and sub-state-level nationalist movements clash in terms of political goals and “othering” processes triggered, they all share a similar logic of articulation. The paper asks how uncertainty plays itself out, what forms it takes, and how it is smoothed over (or not) in everyday bureaucratic practices of assessing, granting, learning about and applying for citizenship. The research is based upon an analysis of party manifestos and other party sources.