2021/05/26 by Oddný Helgadóttir, Jón Gunnar Ólafsson · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #European Socioeconomic and Political Studies #Social Policy and Reform Studies #European and International Law Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/13501763.2021.1931411
openalex publication_date 2021/05/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
This paper examines how referendums on internationally contested issues can activate nationalist discourses. To this end, it carries out a case study of the ‘Icesave conflict’ between Iceland, the UK and the Netherlands. This conflict centered on whether the Icelandic government should insure British and Dutch deposits in the online accounts of the Icelandic bank Landsbanki, which went bankrupt in the Global Financial Crisis. Departing from a discursive institutionalist framework, the paper performs a detailed analysis of the conflict over time, including two Icelandic referendums on repayment plans. It argues that although calling a referendum likely gave Iceland more bargaining power, doing so also activated novel nationalist discourses. A main contribution of the paper thus lies in illustrating how international pressures can ‘reverberate’ in the domestic realm. Another key contribution is the dynamic analysis of a case that spanned several years, allowing for a time-sensitive understanding of evolving political developments and discourses.