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Scotland the Bold: How our nation has changed and why there is no going back
How our nation has changed and why there's no going back
Scotland has changed fundamentally. This story has become a familiar one, but have we yet understood its full meaning and the resulting consequences? What kind of choices do we face as a society and nation about our future, and how can we best shape them?
Scotland the Bold explores how Scotland became what it is, considers what choices and obstacles it faces, identifies signs of people taking power into their own hands and addresses what we can all do to create a radically different, democratic and better Scotland.
Scotland is now visibly different from the rest of the UK and the self-evidently bankrupt economic, social and political thinking that dominate British elites. Majority Scottish opinion is repulsed by a million people relying on food-banks and the prevalence of welfare sanctions in the fifth richest economy in the world. However, that doesn’t mean that Scotland is automatically morally superior - for in our own nation we have our own poverty, our own shames and silences, and our own elites. For self-government to have any meaning it entails addressing some hard and difficult truths about ourselves.
All of this requires that we begin to talk honestly and maturely about Scotland’s future and some of the difficult choices we will have to make; reflecting on where we have come from, what we are proud of, mistakes, and how we do things better in the future.
'There could be no better harbinger... of possibilities than this bracing, searching, discomforting and ultimately exhilarating book.' Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times
Scotland has changed fundamentally. This story has become a familiar one, but have we yet understood its full meaning and the resulting consequences? What kind of choices do we face as a society and nation about our future, and how can we best shape them?
Scotland the Bold explores how Scotland became what it is, considers what choices and obstacles it faces, identifies signs of people taking power into their own hands and addresses what we can all do to create a radically different, democratic and better Scotland.
Scotland is now visibly different from the rest of the UK and the self-evidently bankrupt economic, social and political thinking that dominate British elites. Majority Scottish opinion is repulsed by a million people relying on food-banks and the prevalence of welfare sanctions in the fifth richest economy in the world. However, that doesn’t mean that Scotland is automatically morally superior - for in our own nation we have our own poverty, our own shames and silences, and our own elites. For self-government to have any meaning it entails addressing some hard and difficult truths about ourselves.
All of this requires that we begin to talk honestly and maturely about Scotland’s future and some of the difficult choices we will have to make; reflecting on where we have come from, what we are proud of, mistakes, and how we do things better in the future.
'There could be no better harbinger... of possibilities than this bracing, searching, discomforting and ultimately exhilarating book.' Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times
- GenresPolitics
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 14, 2016
16 people want to read
About the author
Gerry Hassan
46 books7 followersGerry Hassan, PhD is a Scottish writer, academic and research fellow at the University of the West of Scotland. He is also an associate for Demos and OpenDemocracy. Gerry Hassan is a frequent columnist for the British national daily newspaper The Guardian on topics and issues related to the United Kingdom, particularly Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 17, 2022
Really helpful, clearly written insights into arguments and issues around Scotland’s journey towards independence. The author is clearly in favour of independence, and acknowledges this, but is not shy of writing about the disadvantages too. The case is made while avoiding party politics (in general), focusing on cultural, historical, philosophical and economic perspectives. You won’t read anything like this in normal MSM, and certainly not on social media.
May 21, 2017
Scrupulously fair and even-handed.
April 21, 2017
Accessibly written account of Scottish politics which carefully frames arguments for independence within national, international and cultural contexts. Healthily sceptical where it needs to be too.
April 24, 2017
Fantastic perspective on Scottish politics and society that isn't afraid to take the SNP to task and offers an ultimately optimistic vision of what Scottish independence can be.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews