Rory Scothorne explores the emergence of student radicalism in Scotland, arguing that the politicisation of Scottish students during the “1968 era” has left a lasting impression on Scottish politics and culture rather than the prevailing myth about 1968: it didn’t happen here.
Politics
Beware: hostile environment
‘With hindsight there was a poignant contrast between the generous spirit in the hall and the fearful politics brewing in the real world outside’. Fay Young on positive community activism and a general election result that ushered in Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment’.
Solidarity in a neutral Scotland
‘So perhaps Scotland can respond to world events by providing something that Ponsatí and the legions of others in the world today repressed by their own states so desperately need: a place of sanctuary for the ever greater number of persecuted that only a small neutral state can offer.’
Is that the Scottish Parliament in Barcelona?
When you come across the Scottish Parliament in the centre of Barcelona…was it just the market designed by Enric Miralles, or a miracle that could change the course of Brexit? Robert Sharp inspired by a tweet embarks on a whimsical adventure.
Englishness and not just class lies behind Brexit
‘Identities are complex and it appears that Britishness, while slightly related to views on Brexit, was much less important in differentiating between groups than English identity was…’
Culture
The future of hutting in Scotland
The smell of onions frying is in the air. In the evening there is a light in every window. There are people living in the glen again. Donald McPhillimy sees the future and it is a hut built of wood.
Vertical farming: sustainable future made in Scotland?
“Currently, we expend about 10 calories of fossil fuel to generate one calorie of food. This is unsustainable not just in a small way but to quite an alarming extent.” Scientist Ian Boyd sees hope in vertical farming but can Scotland retain its lead in this pioneering technology by scaling it up to “an industrial reality”?
Rite of Spring – close up and personal
‘I have loved the Rite of Spring since I first heard it, more than 30 years ago. Visceral, violent stuff. Spring, like human birth, does not deliver easily. Stravinsky delighted in the cracking ice that signalled the bursting of new life into Russia’s frozen landscape.’
The prime that never comes: on Muriel Spark’s Miss Jean Brodie
‘School holds a fascination long after we leave it because it is so often the last time many people feel themselves emerging as individuals. By adulthood, the terms of who we are and what we decide to do are expected to be firmly set….And so when, in Edinburgh, we are asked: ‘what school did you go to?’ the question perhaps belies a deeper subtext: ‘who were you, before you made the choice?’