Understanding national identity Machine generated contents note: Preface; Introduction; 1. Thinking about national identity; 2. Accessing national identity; 3. National identity: do people care about it; 4. Debatable lands: national identities on the border; 5. Claiming national identity; 6. The politics of national identity; 7. The notional other: ethnicity and national identity; 8. A manner of speaking: the end of being British; 9. Whither national identity; Appendix. National identity publications. What is it that is so interesting about national identity that it has intrigued us and dominated our research for some twenty years Given what has already been published about nations nationalism and national identity why inflict yet another volume on readers One reason is that a lot has been written about nationalism a fair bit about nations but far less about national identity We live in a world in which being a citizen of a state and being a national are by no means the same. Amidst much scholarly debate about nations and nationalism comparatively little has been written explicitly on national identity and a great deal less is solidly evidence based. This book focuses on national identity in England and Scotland. Using data collected over twenty years it asks: does national identity really matter to people How does national identity differ from nationality and having a passport Are there particular people and places which have ambiguous or contested national identities What happens if someone makes a claim to a national identity On what basis do others accept or reject the claim Does national identity have much internal substance or is it simply about defending group boundaries How does national identity relate to politics and constitutional change