Scotland's ethical paradiplomacy as strategic narratives

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to interrogate Scotland's upcoming publication of a feminist approach to international relations, announced in 2021 - situating it within a growing cohort of states. It assumes the position that Scotland's international activities - conceptualised as paradiplomacy - are already feminist. In conducting this argument, it will explore questions as to why Scotland adopts a feminist foreign policy and as to how this policy might look. The analytical frameworks necessary to answer these questions are conjured through feminist theory, soft power, and strategic narratives. Building on these concepts, content analysis is utilised in relation to Scottish Government communications through the years of Scotland's 'good global citizenship' from 2016 until the present. From this approach, an array of interesting feminist strategic narratives are gleaned and harnessed to better understand how Scotland approaches gender within its paradiplomacy.