Putting Wales First
The Political Thought of Plaid Cymru (Volume 1)
Author(s) Richard Wyn Jones
Language: English
Genre(s): Politics
- October 2024 · 304 pages ·216x138mm
- · Paperback - 9781837721832
- · eBook - pdf - 9781837721849
- · eBook - epub - 9781837721856
About The Book
This authoritative book traces the development of Plaid Cymru’s political thought from its birth in 1924–5 to the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999. Through a penetrating study of the political beliefs of its most important leaders – Saunders Lewis, Gwynfor Evans, Dafydd Elis-Thomas and Dafydd Wigley – we follow the party’s emergence from the political fringe to the threshold of a devolved Wales. The development of Plaid Cymru’s constitutional and economic policies are examined in detail, as well as its attitude towards the Welsh language. A vibrant discussion on the nature of nationalism and nationalist ideas locates the party’s intellectual development in a broader international context. This is a book that reveals Plaid Cymru in a new and sometimes controversial light.
Endorsements
‘Richard Wyn Jones is deservedly recognised as a leading authority on politics, public opinion and national identity within and across Great Britain and Ireland. Here, he provides a pioneering, compelling and lucidly written account of the trajectory of political thought in the national party of Wales. He manages with aplomb the hard task of being both objective and empathetic. Highly recommended – to the general reader as well as to scholars and students of nationalism.’
Brendan O’Leary, Lauder Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
‘Lively, sophisticated and accessible, Richard Wyn Jones’s account of Welsh nationalist political thought traces the distinctive ideas and surprising pathways taken by Plaid Cymru and its leaders: a salutary reminder that the non-English nationalisms of these islands do not fit a common mould.’
Colin Kidd, Professor of History, University of St Andrews
‘Authoritative, rigorous, forthright, passionate – and utterly gripping.’
Cynog Dafis
‘This book combines a clear analysis of nationalist ideas in general with a masterful interpretation of the political thought of the main leaders of Plaid Cymru during the twentieth century. It is comprehensive, authoritative, and excitingly provocative in places.’
Meredydd Evans
'An original and insightful study, sensitive to the role of individuals in the shaping of Plaid Cymru while fully cognisant of the wider historical and cultural contexts. This book, by Wales’s leading political commentator and theorist, deepens our understanding of the motivations informing Plaid Cymru’s leadership and the political thought of the party more generally.'
Daniel G. Williams
‘This book is a masterly analysis of a party’s ideology’
Tom Ellis, Planet: The Welsh Internationalist
‘The first volume of his magisterial study of the ideology of Plaid Cymru.’
Meic Stephens, Cambria
‘Richard Wyn Jones' masterpiece will be a necessary handbook for everyone involved in planning the future of Plaid Cymru and plotting the future of Wales.’
Cynog Dafis, Barn
‘A magnificent book … truly innovative … breaking new ground in Welsh historiography.'
J. Graham Jones, Y Cymro
‘This excellent book is brim-full of innovative ideas and incisive observations … fresh, balanced, gripping.’
Robin Okey, Gwales
Contents
Preface to the English Translation
Introduction
PART ONE – NATIONALISM
Chapter One. Nationalism, National Movements and Wales
Understanding Nationalism
Nationalism, the old and the new hen
Nationalism, the self and violence
National Movements
The development of national movements
The ideology of national movements
Wales – in the shadow of the firstborn
PART TWO – NATIONALISTS
Chapter Two. ‘A passionate love of a stable civilisation’: The Saunders Lewis era
Seizing the agenda
Principles of Nationalism
Historiography
Nonconformism
Laying the foundations
Holding on
One language or two?
‘Three acres and a Welsh-speaking cow’
Dominion status
A flash in the pan
Chapter Three. ‘A reconciliation with her fair past’: The Gwynfor Evans era
I was rejected...?
The inheritance: the core ideas of ‘Saunders’ a ‘Gwynfor’
Fundamental policies: the inheritance and its evolution
The Welsh language
Economic policy
Constitutional objectives
Aros Mae
The End of Britishness
Chapter Four: More than Dal ati? The era of the two Dafydds
Turning Left: The End of the ‘Third Way’
Political philosophy
Strategy
Radical Wales
A Parliament and Europe - again
Wigley, Ceredigion and the paradox of the 1990s
Index