Sectarianism, Intolerance and Racism in Glasgow, 2002

Intolerance and racism have, as in the rest of the UK, long been issues of concern in Scotland. However in Scotland, there is the added dimension of sectarianism. While few would disagree that sectarianism exists in Glasgow in one form or another, there has been no consensus on the scale and nature of this phenomenon. Studies elsewhere in the UK, such as the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, have attempted to measure sectarianism in Northern Ireland. However, little hard evidence exists for Scotland and it is the intention that this research forms the benchmark for future research. This research aims to gauge intolerance, and sectarianism as they exist within Glasgow, and register a baseline for these against which future research can benchmark. <br> <br> Although sectarianism in the context of Roman Catholic and Protestant intolerance is largely unknown in the context of England and Wales, it has commanded significant amounts of political attention within Scotland since the creation of the Scottish Parliament. Equally, it is a matter of debate among Scottish academics, some of whom have dedicated a lifetime of research into the prevalence or otherwise of sectarianism in modern-day Scotland.<br> <br> The methodology utilised means that the database contains a wealth of other information about tolerance. This includes attitudes towards having homosexuals, asylum seekers etc. as immediate neighbours and the acceptability or otherwise of various slang terms used to describe different groups of people.<br>