Microsoft Word - Williams_v3_definitive.doc Studies  on  National  Movements,  1  (2013)      |      REVIEWS   Daniel  G.  Williams  234   Alan   Sandry,   Plaid   Cymru.   An   ideological   analysis   (Cardiff:   Welsh  Academic  Press,  2011)  234  pp.,  ISBN  9781860571169.   Review  by  Daniel  G.  Williams   Alan  Sandry’s  Plaid  Cymru.  An  ideological  analysis  is  both  interesting  and,   at   times,   illuminating.   He   adopts   the   work   of   political   scientist   Michael   Freeden  as  a  basis  for  his  ‘ideological  analysis’  and  asks  two  fundamental   questions:   whether   nationalism   constitutes   a   political   ideology,   and   whether   Plaid   Cymru   is   primarily   a   nationalist   party.   ‘Ideology’   is,   of   course,  one  of  the  most  complex  and  contested  terms  in  cultural  studies.   Freeden  does  not  relate  ideology  to  the  ‘pejorative  Marxist  usage’  where  it   refers   to   ‘distorted   consciousness,   reflecting   exploitative   and   alienating   power  relationships  that  can  be  overcome  in  a  socialist  society’.  Rather,  he   relates   ideology   to   human   practice,   ‘as   those   actual   and   composite   thought-­‐patterns  of  individuals  and  groups  in  a  society  which  relate  to  the   way  they  comprehend  and  shape  their  political  worlds,  and  which  supply   us  with  crucial  clues  for  understanding  political  conduct  and  practices’.     Sandry   deploys   Freeden’s   participative   definition   of   ideology   to   good   effect  as  he  draws  on  extensive  interviews  with  some  of  the  key  politicians   and  supporters  of  Plaid  Cymru  to  delineate  and  define  the  dominant  ideas   and  values  that  have  informed  the  party’s  policies  and  actions.  The  book   offers  useful,  brief  overviews  of  some  of  the  key  intellectual  and  political   traditions   that   have   informed   the   party’s   thinking,   from   liberalism   to   socialism,   from   linguistic   conservationism   to   environmentalism   and   feminism.  His  goal,   in  keeping  with  Freeden’s  work,  is  to  ascertain  what   constitutes   Plaid   Cymru’s   ‘core’   values,   and   thus   central   ideological   convictions,  and  which  ideas  constitute   ‘adjacent’  and  ‘peripheral’   forces   which  interact  and  shape  the  core  ideas  in  significant  ways.  Sandry’s  key   finding  is  that  ‘if  it  is  necessary  to  classify  Plaid  Cymru’s  thought-­‐practices   in  terms  of  the  existing  and  standardised  political  ideologies,  then  it  would   be  far  more  accurate  to  describe  Plaid  Cymru’s  ideology  as  being  akin  to   Studies  on  National  Movements,  1  (2013)      |      REVIEWS   Daniel  G.  Williams   235   socialist   ideology   than   it   would   be   to   match   the   party   to   a   nationalist   ideological   standpoint’.   Following   Freeden,   Sandry   sees   nationalism   as   reliant  on  other  ‘host’  ideologies  such  as  liberalism  or  socialism  in  order  to   be  socially  and  politically  effective.  Plaid  Cymru,  from  this  perspective,  is  a   party  whose  nationalism  is  attached  to  a  socialist  core.   This  is  an  interesting,  if  controversial,  thesis.  But  this  is  not  all  that  Sandry   has   to   say   on   the   question   of   ideology.   Perhaps   equally   insightful   is   Sandry’s   tracing  of  Plaid  Cymru’s   ideological  history.  He  argues   that  up   until  the  1950s  ‘the  promotion  of  the  Welsh  language  would  be  classified   as  a  core  concept’  within   the   ideological   framework  of  Plaid  Cymru.  By   today,  following  the  establishment  of  Cymdeithas  yr  Iaith  Gymraeg  (The   Welsh  Language  Society)  in  1962  which  campaigned  specifically  on  Welsh   language  issues  via  a  policy  of  civil  disobedience,  and  a  broader  range  of   positive  attitudes  towards  the  language  embraced  by  all  political  parties   since  political  devolution  in  1997,  ‘the  pressure  valve  on  Plaid  Cymru  has   been  discharged’  and  the  ‘Welsh  language,  therefore,  can  be  viewed  as  a   peripheral,  as  opposed  to  a  core,  concept  within  Plaid  Cymru’s  thought-­‐ practices’.  Welsh  nationalism  is   therefore  envisaged  as  a   ‘thin’   ideology,   which   turns   to   other   political   and   intellectual   traditions   to   give   it   substance.   While   Sandry   discusses   the   ways   in   which   liberalism,   environmentalism  and  feminism  have  played  this  substantive  role  during   periods   of   Plaid   Cymru’s   history,   it   seems   that   the   dominant   historical   narrative   is   one   in   which   a   linguistic   ‘core’   becomes   ‘peripheral’,   and   ‘devolutionary   socialism’   (present   in   the   1930s   work   of   D.J.   Davies   but   kept  peripheral  during   the  reign  of   the  party’s   first  President  Saunders   Lewis)  becomes  central.  Although  he  doesn’t   explicitly   connect   the   two   processes,   it   seems   that   what   Sandry   is   describing   is   a   shift   in   what   constitutes   the   key   components   of   Welsh   nationalism,   from   language   rights  to  devolutionary  socialism.   In  developing  his  analysis  Sandry  makes  it  clear  that  there  is  much  to  be   gained  from  Freeden’s  rejection  of  the  Marxist  definitions  of  ideology  as,   on  the  one  hand,  the  beliefs  characteristic  of  a  certain  class,  and  on  the   other,  the  system  of  illusory  beliefs  –  fake  ideas  and  false  consciousness  –   which  dominate  in  a  bourgeois  capitalist  society.  Rather  than  conceiving  of   ideology   as   an   impersonal   force   imposed   from   above,   or   a   power   Studies  on  National  Movements,  1  (2013)      |      REVIEWS   Daniel  G.  Williams  236   unconsciously  internalised  by  social  ‘subjects’,  Sandry  follows  Freeden  in   emphasising   the   role   of   human   agency   in   the   construction   of   political   ideologies.  The  result  of  this  approach  in  Sandry’s  book  is  that  a  great  deal   of   the   analysis   is   dependent   on   knowledge   gleaned   from   interviews.   It   depends  on  our  believing  and  accepting  what  the  interviewees  are  telling   us.  In  an  age  of  cynicism  towards  politics  and  distrust  of  politicians,  this   approach  is  profoundly  refreshing.  But  it  does  have  its  limitations.  There  is   little  doubt  that  the  majority  of  Plaid  Cymru  activists  would  like  to  think  of   their  party  as  contributing  to  a  wave  of  devolutionary  socialist  movements   with  international  connections  with  Leftist  minorities  in  Western  Europe   and  with  struggles   for   self-­‐determination  across   the  globe.  But   to  what   extent   is   this   self-­‐description   persuasive?   To   what   extent   might   we   be   dealing   here   with   ‘ideology’   in   its   older   Marxist   sense   of   false   consciousness?     Edward  Said  argued  that   ‘the  starting  point  of  critical  elaboration  is  the   consciousness  of  what  one  really  is,  and  is  ‘knowing  thyself’  as  a  product  of   the  historical  process  to  date,  which  has  deposited   in  you  an   infinity  of   traces   without   leaving   an   inventory’.   Much   the   same   could   be   said   of   political  movements  and  a  ‘deposit  of  traces’  will,  by  definition,  lie  beyond   the  conscious  grasp  of  the  key  participators  in  any  political  movement.  It   may   be   worth   recalling   that   Freud’s   biographer,   and   the   leading   populariser   of   his   ideas,   Ernest   Jones,   was   an   early   member   of   Plaid   Cymru.  A  very  different  kind  of  ideological  analysis  might  be  seen  to  derive   from   the   fusion   of   psychoanalysis   and   Marxism   characteristic   of   much   contemporary  cultural   criticism.  Slavoj  Žižek  makes  a  useful  distinction   between   ‘symbolic   history’   –   defined   as   ‘the   set   of   explicit   mythical   narratives   and   ideologico-­‐ethical   prescriptions   that   constitute   the   tradition   of   a   community’   –   and   its   submerged   Other,   the   unacknowledgeable   ‘spectral,   fantasmic   history   that   effectively   sustains   the  explicit  symbolic  tradition,  but  has  to  remain  foreclosed  if  it  is  to  be   operative’.   In   the   shift   from   linguistic   conservation   to   devolutionary   socialism   which   Sandry   describes,   the   language   issue   moves   from   the   realm   of   the   ‘symbolically   acknowledged’   to   the   ‘spectrally   unacknowledged’,  but  that  is  not  to  say  that  its  role  in  setting  limits  on  the   party’s   ideological  make  up  is  diminished.  A  comparison  of   two  periods   Studies  on  National  Movements,  1  (2013)      |      REVIEWS   Daniel  G.  Williams   237   where  the  party’s  membership  and  support  increased  significantly,  1959   and  1999,  might  illustrate  this  point.     When  invited  to  speak  about  the  development  of  Plaid  Cymru  from  1966   at  a  Commemoration  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Plaid  Cymru  in  1974,   Phil  Williams  argued  that  Plaid  Cymru  President  Gwynfor  Evans’s  victory   in   the   Carmarthen   parliamentary   by-­‐election   of   1966   was   not   the   key   turning  point   in  the  party’s  history,  but  was  rather  the  culmination  of  a   series  of  transformations  that  had  begun  with  the  election  of  1959.  The   party  fought  more  than  half  of  Wales’s  seats  in  1959,  and  the  total  of  votes   gained  (78,000)  was  higher  than  in  the  general  elections  of  1964  (69,000)   or   1966   (61,000).   1959   saw   ‘a   new   influx   of   members   forming   a   completely  new  element  within’  Plaid  Cymru,  recalled  Phil,  and  ‘many  of   us   had   been   in   the   Labour   Party   for   years   and   were   political   to   the   fingertips:  above  all  we  understood  that  politics  was  about  power  –  that   was   the  one   lesson  the  Labour  Party  had  never   forgotten.’  For   the   first   time  there  was  a  large  influx  of  members  that  could  not  speak  Welsh.  Plaid   was  at  last  becoming  a  party  for  the  whole  of  Wales.  These  were  the  years   in   which   Plaid   moved   from   being   a   pressure   group   to   being   a   political   party.   But   the   strains   caused   by   rapid   growth   would   soon   show   themselves.   In   1962   Lewis   delivered   his   electrifying   speech   ‘Tynged   yr   Iaith’   (The   Fate   of   the   Language)   which   called   for   the   adoption   of   revolutionary  strategies   to   secure  a   future   for   the  Welsh   language.  The   speech  led  to  the  establishment  of  Cymdeithas  yr  Iaith  Gymraeg,  but   its   intention  was  to  change  the  direction  in  which  Plaid  Cymru  was  travelling.   Lewis’s  intention  was  to  reinforce  the  centrality  of  the  Welsh  language  in   the   nationalist   party’s   thought.   In   terms   of   galvanising   a   generation   of   Welsh   youth   the   speech   was   a   celebrated   success,   but   in   terms   of   its   intention  to  change  the  priorities  of   the  party  that  Lewis  had   lead  until   1939,  it  was  a  failure.   A   similar  pattern  of  electoral  advance   followed  by  a   linguistic  backlash   occurred   in   1999.   In   the   first   elections   for   the   National   Assembly   for   Wales,  which  took  place  in  that  year,  Plaid  Cymru  achieved  290,572  votes,   and  a  28.4  share  of  the  vote  –  a  result  that  has  not  been  equalled  since.  As   in  1959,  new  elements  had  been  attracted  to  the  party  as  it  proceeded  to   win   seats   in   the   old   industrial   constituencies   of   Llanelli,   Rhondda   and   Studies  on  National  Movements,  1  (2013)      |      REVIEWS   Daniel  G.  Williams  238   Islwyn.  Yet  by  2002  Plaid  Cymru  found  itself  again  at  the  centre  of  a  bitter   row  regarding  the  language.  Dismayed  at  the  perceived  unwillingness  of   the   Welsh   Assembly   to   do   anything   about   the   ‘swamping’   of   his   Welsh   speaking  community  in  north-­‐west  Wales  by  English  incomers,  the  Plaid   Cymru  councillor  Seimon  Glyn  gave  vent  to  his  feelings  on  a  morning  show   on  Radio  Wales.  The  intemperate  nature  of  his  language  led  to  his  being   branded  a  ‘racist’,  and  the  construction  of  the  ‘nationalist  racist’  became  a   useful   tool   for   the   Labour   Party   to   attack   Glyn   and   his   supporters   specifically,   and   the   Welsh   nationalist   movement   more   broadly.   The   lukewarm  and  limited  support  given  to  Glyn  by  the  Plaid  Cymru  leadership   exacerbated   the   sense   that   the   party   had   turned   its   back   on   its   core   supporters  in  the  Welsh  speaking  areas  in  order  to  gain  electoral  advance.   The   letters   of   support   that   Glyn   received   from   all   parts   of   Wales   were   collected  in  a  volume  that  testified  to  the  fact  that  a  number  of  people  were   profoundly  distraught  that  Plaid  Cymru  had  turned  its  back  on  the  cultural   philosophy   of   its   founders   in   becoming   a   pragmatic   cog   within   an   establishmentarian  political  machine.  While  the  interventions  of  Lewis  and   Glyn   were   different   in   both   significance   and   effect,   the   period   from   electoral   breakthrough   to   linguistic   backlash   was   virtually   identical   in   1959   and   1999.   This   is   the   internal   tension   within   the   intellectual   and   political  thought  of  Plaid  Cymru.  The  transition  from  one  core  concept  to   the  other,  from  language  to  socialism,  was  never  neat  nor  complete.  There   are  no  references  to  Glyn  in  Sandry’s  analysis  of  Plaid  Cymru,  despite  the   fact  that  this  episode  revealed  in  a  particularly  stark  form  the  seemingly   incompatible  ideological  strains  that  are  woven  into  the  fabric  of  the  party.     Indeed,   while   Sandry   recognises   that   Plaid   Cymru’s   founders   placed   linguistic   continuity   above   political   autonomy   in   the   party’s   list   of   priorities,   he   seems   unable   to   read   the   myriad   Welsh   language   publications   produced   by   the   party   throughout   its   history.   A   reading   knowledge  of  Welsh  is  a  necessary  skill  for  anyone  writing  an  analysis  of   Plaid   Cymru.   At   his   worst,   Sandry   is   similar   to   Jack   Gladney,   the   non-­‐ German-­‐speaking   director   of   ‘Hitler   Studies’   at   a   university   in   the   American  mid-­‐west   in  Don  Delillo’s  acerbic  social  satire  on  postmodern   academia,  White  Noise  (1985).  Where  Welsh  language  words  and  concepts   are  included  in  the  discussion  they  are  misspelt.  Davies’s  economic  vision   Studies  on  National  Movements,  1  (2013)      |      REVIEWS   Daniel  G.  Williams   239   based  on  ‘cydweithrediad’  appears  as  the  meaningless  ‘cydweitbrediad’  in   both   the   text   and   the   index.   The   book   is   poorly   written   in   places,   and   carelessly   edited.   It   was   Perry   Anderson   who   once   bracingly   suggested   that  ‘it  should  be  a  matter  of  honour  for  the  Left  to  write  at  least  as  well  as   its  adversaries’.  The  same  goes   for  Welsh  studies.  The  Welsh  Academic   Press  needs  to  raise  its  game  in  this  respect.   But   the   truth  of  Sandry’s   suggestion   that  Plaid  Cymru  now  draws  on  a   socialist  core  to  give  meaning  to  its  nationalism  was  reinforced  recently  as   the  self-­‐defined  socialist  Leanne  Wood  was  elected   leader.  Wood   is   the   party’s   first   female   leader,   the   first   with   her   roots   in   the   South   Wales   Valleys,  the  first  to  be  a  learner  rather  than  a  fluent  speaker  of  Welsh.  She   has  the  potential  to  appeal  well  beyond  the  party’s  traditional  supporters.   If  Wood   is  able   to  sustain  a  commitment   to   linguistic  development  and   expansion   while   forging   a   redistributive   economic   policy   with   a   wider   appeal,  then  Plaid  Cymru  may  expect  some  future  successes.  The  record   suggests  that   it   is   in  periods  of  success  that  the  party’s   ideological   fault   lines   become   apparent,   however.   It   seems   that   what   is   ‘core’   and   ‘peripheral’   is   in   fact   historically   contingent,   and   can   vary   according   to   social   circumstances.   The   internal   life   of   a   political   movement   is   more   conflicting  and  contradictory  than  the  somewhat  desiccated  world  of  the   political  theorist.