Democratic Left Scotland hosted the unveiling of a portrait of David MacLennan, the actor, writer and producer who was at the heart of Scottish theatre for over 40 years until his death in June 2014 at the age of 65.…
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A Scottish Perspective Jan 5th – May 5th
Many issues will impact attitudes to Scottish politics in 2016: people’s daily lives and the weather amongst these. Europe and global events, the fate of local government and public services will compete with the Scottish Government elections for people’s attention.…
Policing the polis: Holding Scotland’s new service to account
by John Finnie MSP, featured in the latest edition of Perspectives. Copies are now available at Word Power, West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh. Ever since being asked to write an article, a couple of months ago, on Scotland’s now two year old police…
DLS Referendum Statement
Here is a message from Stuart Fairweather: “Tomorrow 97% of people over the age of 16 living in Scotland have the right to vote. We should encourage and support all friends, family, neighbours and workmates to use their vote. Democratic…
Sandy Moffat's portrait of Tom Nairn
In 2012 Democratic Left Scotland commissioned Sandy Moffat to paint a portrait of Scottish political theorist Tom Nairn. It was unveiled at the launch of a collection of his work “Old Nations, Auld Enemies, New Times, Selected Essays” on Monday…
After Falkirk and Grangemouth, where next? The article below should be seen as a contribution to an ongoing discussion. It draws on discussions with members of Democratic Left Scotland and others in late 2013. Any comments would be very welcome.…
Scotland’s Other Union
In the debate about whether Scotland should be an independent country, three major topics have proved to be both predictably contentious and genuinely problematic: Scotland’s relationship with the EU in a context where the institutions of the EU are being…
Changing Scotland: "The Counting of Votes is Only the Final Ceremony of a Long Process"
Saturday 29th June 2013, 2pm. Augustine United Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh. “The Counting of Votes is Only the Final Ceremony of a Long Process” – Antonio Gramsci We believe that the political situation in Scotland offers a real opportunity…
Hobsbawm’s achievement
by Willie Thompson Eric Hobsbawm, who died at the beginning of October aged 95, was the last representative of the remarkable generation of Marxist historians who comprised the Communist Party Historians’ Group of the late forties and early fifties.…
Depression, Recovery and the Politics of Nations
David Purdy In what follows, I take up three of the issues raised by Stuart Fairweather in his recent posting Two Years of Crisis: What Potential for Change: the prolonged economic depression induced by the financial crash of 2007-8; the current…