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

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• Devolution
• industry
• institutionalization
• territory
• Scotland
• whisky

Acknowledgements

This research was financed by the Aquitaine Regional Council through Sciences Po Bordeaux’s ‘Délibération et gouvernance’ programme.

Notes

Apart from documentary analysis, this research has entailed a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with staff of the Scotch Whisky Association and the Confédération européenne des producteurs de spiritueux (CEPS), officials from the Scottish Government and the European Commission and managers of whisky-producing companies.

‘Grants step up pressure on Cardhu’, The Scotsman, 16 Nov. 2003. The specialized press, e.g. Drinks International, made much more of this story which was even raised in the UK Parliament during Prime Minister’s question time.

‘Cardhu malt mix taken off market’, The Scotsman, 10 Mar. 2004.

Gaining access to this process is difficult to say the least. However, the speculative analysis of a competitor at least provides a tenable hypothesis: “I think some manager came in from Proctor or Gamble or somewhere like that, wanted to put notches on their belt from a marketing point of view. They were having their three years as brand manager for Cardhu …” (Nov. 2007).

Single Malt, Single Grain, Blended, Blended Malt, Blended Grain.

A Toast to the Future (2000) and Scotland’s Enterprising Spirit (2005).

DEFRA press release, 8 Oct. 2007.

All these documents can be consulted at http://www.defra.gov.uk. The Statutory Instrument (SI 2009 2890) was finally laid before Parliament on 30 Oct. 2009 and came into force on 23 Nov.

See the websites of newspapers such as The Scotsman or The Scottish Herald.

SWA news release, 8 Oct. 2007.

Revealingly, DEFRA’s press release in Oct. 2007 announcing UK government action quotes at some length the Secretary of State for Scotland rather than DEFRA’s own minister.