Browse

This book gathers a group of political actors and academics who believe that a radically more active citizenship is a worthy aim. They spell out how it can be achieved in their particular area of concern, looking at the obstacles and how they might be overcome. Together, they show us how we can realise the dream of a citizen culture and the benefits that it would bring for democracy in the United Kingdom. The first and final chapters set the tone, respectively, on civic republicanism today and political identity. Other chapters consider active citizenship in relation to: Labour government policy; Scottish devolution; public services; gender equality; schools; multiculturalism; integrating immigrants; lifelong learning; Europe and international understanding; young people and Scottish independence.

What is the connection between inclusion, exclusion and identity? This book argues that the politics of inclusion and identity should be studied as struggles over the representations of the identities involved. The book engages with a range of debates and themes including Britishness, race, the nature and role of Islam in British society, homelessness and social justice, and it adopts a post-structuralist approach to the theoretical and practical issues surrounding inclusion, exclusion and identity. The argument is developed through careful analyses of cases from the last four decades of British multiculturalism. Each chapter deals with a concept and practice of inclusion: equality, recognition, tolerance and hospitality. Each chapter also deals with one or more cases: Gordon Brown’s and David Cameron’s different versions of Britishness, the legal case Mandla; the debate between Bhikhu Parekh and Brian Barry; newspaper coverage and debates about Begum, X v Y, Playfoot and Watkins-Singh, which all concerned school uniforms and religious symbols and clothing; and Nick Hornby’s How to Be Good. The book makes a contribution to empirical debates about the nature of British multiculturalism as well as theoretical debates about inclusion, identity and representation. It is informed by post-structuralist political theory, particularly Ernesto Laclau’s theory of discourse and hegemony and Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction.

This book is an historical introduction to the varieties of citizenship in Britain, starting in the Middle Ages and bringing the story right up to the present day. Both the status and understanding of citizenship in practice and the theoretical and advisory writings on the subject are introduced, and their inter-relationships are explored. Among the key themes to be examined are: local and national strata; the issue of parliamentary suffrage; women excluded and included as citizens; the influence of classical ideas; nationhood and imperialism; the role of political and social theorists; interpretations by modern political parties; the role of education; environmental citizenship; multiculturalism; globalisation; and human rights. Organised chronologically, each chapter is divided into sections in order to present the reader with different themes in a manageable form. The book is unique in its historical coverage of citizenship in Britain — moving from the Middle Ages to the present day. It reveals the great complexity of the development of citizenship in Britain and demonstrates the importance of an historical perspective in understanding the issue of citizenship in Britain today.

This book is the first major study of the historical writings of religious dissenters in England between the 1690s and the 1790s. It redefines the way we understand religious and political identities in the eighteenth century and provides a synoptic overview of the development of religious dissent in England between the Restoration and the early nineteenth century, using Dissenters' writings to open up new and different perspectives on how the past was perceived in this period. These writings are located within the wider political culture, and the author explores how the long shadow of ‘the Great Rebellion’ of the 1640s stretched across the division between Church and Dissent. The author is not simply concerned with history as a representation of the past, but history also as part of the bitterly divided collective memory of the present. Focusing on the relationship between the history that historians wrote, and the history which men and women experienced, the author provides the reader with new perspectives on eighteenth-century England.

Global politics are deeply affected by issues surrounding cultural identity. Profound cultural diversity has made national majorities increasingly anxious, and democratic governments are under pressure to address those anxieties. Multiculturalism – once heralded as the insignia of a tolerant society – is now blamed for encouraging segregation and harbouring extremism. The author of this book makes a case for a new progressive politics that confronts these concerns. Drawing on comparisons between Britain and India, he shows how the global Left has been hamstrung by a compulsion for insular identity politics and a stubborn attachment to cultural indifference. The author argues that, to combat this, cultural identity must be placed at the centre of the political system.

Global Statesman revisits the decade that Gordon Brown spent as architect-in-chief of the New Labour project, and charts an often neglected but crucial dimension of the Brown years: his commitment to international development and the issues of global poverty. Drawing upon 10 years of primary research, including an extensive and exhaustive survey of speeches and policy statements made by Brown both prior to and throughout New Labour’s time in government, Global Statesman offers a critical assessment of one of the most powerful figures in modern British politics. While a number of books have focused upon the politics and performance of Brown in office, Global Statesman considers these in the light of the former Chancellor and Prime Minister’s own personal crusade against global poverty. As this book demonstrates, there was a clear link that existed between those policies that Brown himself design and implemented in Britain and the model of international development that he sought to promote abroad. As this book demonstrates however, this transmission of policy proved problematic and Brown’s persistence in working with the grain of global capitalism prevented him from truly getting to grips with the multiple and systemic causes of underdevelopment experienced by billions of people across the world. This, sadly, limited the scope for any genuine, lasting success and, ultimately, undermined Brown’s otherwise admirable commitment to address global poverty.

One of the key aims of devolution in Scotland was to change the way people felt about their country and the way they were governed. This book draws on a range of Scottish Election Studies and Scottish Social Attitudes surveys to explore the early success — or otherwise — of devolution in meeting this objective. It asks how the Scottish public has reacted to the initial experience of devolution, and the lessons this experience might have for the future of devolution. The following questions are considered: How have public attitudes towards the governance of Scotland within the Union evolved from pre-devolution to the end of the first term of the Scottish Parliament? What has happened to support for the principal advocates for leaving the Union, the SNP? Why are fewer people voting in devolved elections than in UK elections? To what degree does the behaviour of those who vote reveal a sense of involvement in the work of the Parliament? What are voters' attitudes to the additional member electoral system? Who are regarded as fellow Scots by those who are all themselves ‘Scottish’? What are Scots' attitudes towards the Pakistani and English minorities in Scotland? The book presents a comprehensive analysis of the Scottish public's evolving view of devolution.

Who is the ‘real’ IRA? The Real IRA, the Continuity IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army, the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA have all assumed responsibility for the struggle for Irish freedom over the course of the late-twentieth century. Yet, as recently as 1969, there was only one Irish Republican Army trying to unify Ireland using physical force. This book explains how and why the transition from one IRA to several IRAs occurred, analysing all the dissident factions that have emerged since the outbreak of the Northern Ireland troubles. It looks at why these groups emerged, what their respective purposes are and why, in an era of relative peace and stability in Northern Ireland, they seek to prolong the violence that has cost over 3,500 lives. The book includes interviews with members of all dissident and mainstream republican organizations, all loyalist factions and security force sources, and shows the influence of Irish America in provoking dissent within republicanism.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has played a significant role in the politics of Scotland in the last forty years. In particular, it has contributed to and shaped the impact and dynamics of devolution. This collection brings together academics, writers, commentators and analysts of Scottish politics to address the nature of the SNP: its position in Scotland, its influence on devolution, its role as a minority administration and its relationship with other institutions in Scotland, the UK and Europe. The SNP has consistently had problems with intellectuals and thinkers, but this is not unusual in party politics. The issue of independence and the debate between it and the Union is one of the main fault-lines of Scottish politics.

This book addresses issues of national identity and nationalism in Scotland from a political and linguistic perspective, comparing a variety of attitudes and opinions from the political elite to the masses, and examining the nature of national identity held by members of these groups and the differences within and between them. There is consideration of non-civic aspects of national identity, as well as a measure of political party nationalism in Scotland over the past forty years that illustrates the ideological movements of each major party during this period. This work also represents the first comprehensive examination of the discourse involved in the expression of national identity within Scottish politics and society, combining quantitative and discourse analysis methods to illustrate the articulation of national identity by differing groups in different contexts.

The years between 1918 and 1939, witnessing as they did the unprecedented extension of the franchise, the decline of the Liberal Party, and the emergence of Labour as a party of government, are central to an understanding of modern Scottish politics. This book presents a distinctive reading of this period, reinterpreting the consequences of the expanded post-war electorate by focusing on the political culture of urban Scotland and re-evaluating the decline of the radical left in the inter-war years. In particular, it examines shifting understandings of political representation, and explores the extent to which national party loyalties supplanted local class identities. Focusing on the relationship between the Labour Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain, the book also traces the declining importance of the public traditions of popular politics. Drawing upon a range of untapped sources including local newspapers, cartoons, and contemporary accounts of demonstrations, the book illuminates the political perspectives of ordinary Scots in an age of mass democracy.

Is terrorism ever morally justified? How should historical and cultural factors be taken into account in judging the morality of terrorist acts? What are the ethical limits of state counter-terrorism? For three decades, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA) waged an ‘armed struggle’ against what it considered to be the British occupation of Northern Ireland. To its supporters, the IRA was the legitimate army of Ireland, fighting to force a British withdrawal as a prelude to the re-unification of the Irish nation. To its enemies, it was an illegal, fanatical, terrorist organization whose members were criminals willing to sacrifice innocent lives in pursuit of its ideological obsession. At the centre of the conflict were the then-unconventional tactics employed by the IRA, including sectarian killings, political assassinations, and bombings, which devastated urban centres – tactics that have become increasingly commonplace in the post-9/11 world. This book is a philosophical examination of the morality of the IRA's violent campaign, and of the British government's attempts to end it.

The Scottish parliamentary and local elections of 2007 were significant for two key reasons: the SNP was brought to power for the first time in its history, posing a fundamental challenge to the 300-year Scottish-English Union; and the local elections used the Single Transferable Vote — the first time such an electoral system has been used in Great Britain since 1945. This book explores the significance of these two developments, asking whether they herald a revolutionary break with the past or simply mark a continuing evolution of existing patterns of Scottish politics. It does so using, as a source of evidence, representative high-quality annual sample surveys of the Scottish public that since 1999 have regularly measured how people in Scotland have reacted to devolution and how they have behaved in elections. The book aims to give an insight into the identities, attitudes and electoral behaviour of people in Scotland during the first decade of devolution.

Examines the startling revival of the Scottish Conservative Party under Ruth Davidson’s leadership: A very timely retrospective study of the Scottish Conservative Party's revival under Ruth Davidson's leadership (November 2011–August 2019). Analyses the Scottish Conservative Party under Ruth Davidson’s in the context of gender and LGBT politics; its relationships with the SNP, Northern Ireland, the Scottish media and the UK Tory Party; and its use of Scottish national identity. Helps inform Scottish political and academic discourse ahead of the 2021 Holyrood elections. When Ruth Davidson was elected leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party in 2011, it was considered something of a joke: in electoral decline for decades, politically irrelevant and seemingly past the point of no return. But by 2017, ‘Ruth Davidson’s Conservatives’ had become Scotland’s second party at Holyrood and Westminster, and its leader spoken of as a future leader of the UK Conservative Party, if not the next Scottish First Minister. Then, in August 2019, Ruth Davidson resigned.

On 18 September 2014, a referendum took place in Scotland to determine the question of Scottish independence. Soon after, the independence issue recurred strongly as a topic in the UK general election of May 2015. This volume examines the media coverage of the referendum, analyzing how it was reported and structured in the media in Scotland, the wider United Kingdom, and in other parts of the world which had a direct interest in the outcome. In twenty chapters encompassing a rich variety of perspectives, scholars, commentators and journalists from Scotland, the rest of Britain, Europe, Canada and Australia examine how the media across the world presented the debate. By exploring how the media in their particular nations constructed coverage of the Scottish political debate, contributors from outside the UK illuminate a range of attitudes to nationalism and separatism in various countries which saw significance for themselves in the Scottish case. The book’s investigation of the shifting nature of Scottish – and British - identity thus revealed is thereby placed in an emphatically international context, alongside specific contributions from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as Scotland itself. The consequences of the referendum are traced in the media until the aftermath of the May general election of 2015.

Scottish Labour has been the dominant political party in Scotland for over 40 years. This book considers the contemporary party, analysing it in the context of Scottish politics, Scotland, and the UK, as well as drawing international comparisons. A range of areas are covered: the chronology of events over the life of the party; the party's internal structures and culture, and its role in Scottish society; Labour's role as Scotland's leading party, its institutional role and its wider relationship with Scottish society; the role of the Labour movement. Key themes include the development of Scottish Labour as Scottish politics has changed with devolution; its often difficult relationship with devolution; home rule and the rise of the SNP; and the impact of Scottish Labour's relationship with the UK Labour party. The book looks at not only the history of the Scottish Labour Party, but also the contemporary party; features a mix of contributors to ensure a variety of perspectives — from academics and journalists to political commentators and public policy experts; and places Scottish Labour within a national and international context.

When Sinn Féin and the IRA emerged in Northern Ireland in 1969 they used a combination of revolutionary politics and violence to an effort to overthrow British rule. Today, the IRA is in a state of ‘retirement’, violence is a tactic of the past, and Sinn Féin is a co-ruler of Northern Ireland and an ever growing political player in the Republic of Ireland. This is one of the most startling transformations of a radical violent movement into a peaceful political one in recent times. So what exactly changed within Irish republicanism, what remains the same, and, crucially, what caused these changes? Where existing studies explain the decision to end violence as the product of stalemate or strategic interplay with the British state, this book draws on a wealth of archival material and interviews to argue that moderation was a long-term process of increasing inclusion and contact with political institutions, which gradually extracted moderate concessions from republicanism. Crucially, these concessions did not necessitate republicans forsaking their long-term ethno-national goals. The book also considers the wider implications of Irish republicanism for other cases of separatist conflict, and has significance for the future study of state responses to violent separatism and of comparative peace processes.

David Torrance reassesses the relationship between ‘nationalism’ and ‘unionism’ in Scottish politics, challenging a binary reading of the two ideologies with the concept of ‘nationalist unionism’. Scottish nationalism did not begin with the SNP in 1934, nor was it confined to political parties that desired independent statehood. Rather, it was more dispersed, with the Liberal, Conservative and Labour parties all attempting to harness Scottish national identity and nationalism between 1884 and 2014, often with the paradoxical goal of strengthening rather than ending the Union. This book combines nationalist theory with empirical historical and archival research to argue that these conceptions of Scottish nationhood had much more in common with each other than is commonly accepted.

The ambition of the Scottish Government is to create a wealthier and fairer nation. There is evidence that economic growth and social inclusion are not conflicting aims but are complementary. Following the devolution acts of 1998, 2012 and 2016, it has extensive powers and resources to fulfil its ambition. On the other hand, its powers are limited and there are practical constraints on what governments can achieve These include the need to attract investors and taxpayers, the inertia of existing policies and political pressures. There is agreement on focusing on social investment on the long-term, inter-generational issues but this requires political will and institutional reform.