Category Archives

Archive for: Scottish Culture

Scottish Album of the Year

No Fuzzy Friday today because, er, nobody’s sent anything in , and because we were up all night laughing our asses off at Nigel Farage. So instead of Top Tips Continue reading →

SCOTLAND 3.0

This is the first of a series of extracts from Scotland’s Road to Socialism – Time to Choose, edited by Gregor Gall and published by Scottish Left Review Press. By Continue reading →

On the Road

By Jamie Maxwell One of the favourite refrains of the Scottish right is that Scotland’s centre of political gravity does not, as socialists and nationalists like to insist, sit to Continue reading →

Scotland doesn’t benefit from British economic ‘strength’

By Jamie Maxwell Against expectations, the Chancellor’s visit to Glasgow last week was a success. Speaking to a gathering of Scottish business leaders, and armed with a hefty new Treasury Continue reading →

Sweet 16

By Michael Bartlet The Ministry of Defence wastes £94 million every year training minors for army roles which could be filled more cost-effectively by adult recruits, says a new report Continue reading →

Yes Minister

First Minister Alex Salmond addressed the SNP conference in Inverness: A week is indeed a long time in politics. On Thursday we announced the date of the independence referendum Continue reading →

Break Up or Break Out?

Amicable Separation? Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not attempting old-style nation-statehood: they are (and indeed, can’t help being) in search of a new mode of distinctive development. Post-globalisation self-rule, liberated from the contortions of imperialism and warfare, and adapted to circumstances in which the scale of statehood is no longer so important…

Unanswered questions have been raised about Scotland’s cultural institutions

by Kevin Williamson Scotland has a long and justifiably proud history of cultural exchange with creative artists from every corner of the globe. Film festivals, writers festivals, music festivals and Continue reading →

Culture is a not an industry. Creative Scotland n’est pas une pipe.

by Kevin Williamson “One-dimensional thought is systematically promoted by the makers of politics and their purveyors of mass information. Their universe of discourse is populated by self-validating hypotheses which, incessantly Continue reading →

The Scottish Indy Podcast Episode 13 – Robin McAlpine

For Episode 13 Michael Greenwell spoke with Robin McAlpine who, amongst other things, is the editor of Scottish Left Review and the director of the advocacy group The Reid Foundation. Democracy was a Continue reading →

Towards a Native Theatre? An Open Letter to Laurie Sansom, NTS Artistic Director Designate

An open letter to Laurie Sansom, the artistic director designate of the National Theatre of Scotland from Thom Cross You have taken up the challenge in difficult days I assure Continue reading →

A Stevenson essay for RLS Day: ‘An Apology For Idlers’

An Apology for Idlers by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) BOSWELL: We grow weary when idle. JOHNSON: That is, sir, because others being busy, we want company; but if we were Continue reading →

Neu! Reekie! #23

Aside from Bella Caledonia an arts project I’m heavily involved with is Neu! Reekie! Neu! Reekie! is a monthly anti-cabaret now based at Edinburgh’s Summerhall arts complex. The Continue reading →

Harpies & Quines

Women for Independence, the grassroots network to persuade more Scottish women to vote yes to independence, officially launches today (Sunday 30 September) with an informal cultural and political event in Continue reading →

Arguing for Independence

Arguing for Independence lifts the entire debate on Scottish independence to a new intellectual level…

Crises Capitalism and Independence Doctrines

By Gordon Asher and Leigh French The interest of the oppressors lie in changing the consciousness of the oppressed not the situation which oppresses them.” (Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Continue reading →

What Place for Poetry in Politics? (+ ‘In Memory Of Doctor Angus Calder’ a new poem by George Gunn)

This Saturday afternoon, as part of The Festival of Politics, Aonghas MacNeicail, Janet Paisley and regular Bella columnist George Gunn – three highly regarded writers, poets, playwrights and broadcasters – Continue reading →

Book Review: The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan

Recommending a novel is a big deal (writes Kevin Williamson). In an age of the Great Information Skim it takes time and commitment to read a book, not to mention Continue reading →

Let the Summerhall revolution begin!

by Kevin Williamson Tonight’s the night. Its the grand opening of the new Summerhall arts complex‘s festival programme, in conjunction with The List magazine’s annual festival shenanigans. This will be Continue reading →

From The Province Of The Cat 6: Mussolini’s Olympics

by George Gunn The future of Scottish politics, the future of our little country, is like an un-spliced rope blowing flayed in the wind. It would take a rope worker of Continue reading →

Yes Scotland and the Class Question

“We must argue on basics, like freedom and democracy and equality. Scotland should be the ideological proving ground of those who want a collectivist view of democracy and freedom.”

Coulport, Devo Max and Imperial Britain

Today at Coulport, we have the biggest arsenal of nuclear missiles in Europe. Why? Because we are British. We are home to the world’s most powerful machine for the mass killing of human beings, Trident. Why? Because we are British.