Industries as Spaces for the Politics of Territory: The Case of Scotch Whisky

Andy Smith (1, 2)

1 SPIRIT - Science Politique Relations Internationales Territoire
2 Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques [FNSP]

To what extent is the regulation of industries affected by changing regional political spaces? This question is tackled here by exploring the role of ‘territory’ in the construction of the institutions which both constrain economic activity and render it durable. Illustrated by an example of re-institutionalization in the Scotch whisky industry, we first uncover a range of global/European Union/UK/Scottish political spaces across which issues of territory are omnipresent. We then argue that if, post-devolution, Scotland possesses considerable latent political resources, actors still can and do choose the UK as the most pertinent territorial ‘base’ from which to regulate their industry.

Mots clés: territory; Scotch Whisky; industry; devolution; institutionalization; Scotland; whisky

Domaines: Science politique

Andy Smith. Industries as Spaces for the Politics of Territory: The Case of Scotch Whisky. Regional and Federal Studies, 2010, Studying Regions as ‘Spaces for Politics’: Territory, Mobilization and Political Change, 20 (3), pp.389-407. ⟨10.1080/13597566.2010.484580⟩. ⟨halshs-00541500⟩