Justin Reynolds
Well tempered steel beneath David Gow’s jovial irreverence
Under David’s editorship Sceptical Scot soon established itself in a crowded field, gaining a reputation for well written, thoughtful contributions to the debate. It is a testament to David’s determination that there was never really…
Acid Corbynism, left accelerationism and Brighton sun – The World Transformed 2017
Justin Reynolds reflects on four fascinating and exhausting days at The World Transformed, the Momentum-organised festival that took place concurrently with the Labour Party conference in Brighton.
Jeremy Corbyn, ‘Holy Fool’
Jeremy Corbyn’s serene countenance during the election campaign drew frequent parallels with that of a Buddhist monk, Corbyn himself at one point referring to his efforts to attune himself to a Zen mindframe. But Corbyn’s…
Scotland’s lost architectural futures
Owen Hopkins’s book Lost Futures surveys the rise, fall and rise again of the reputation of British post-war architectural modernism, including iconic Scottish projects such as Glasgow’s Red Roads Flat and Hutchenstown C, the Cockenzie…
Making another world possible: a tribute to Word Power Books
A book lover pays tribute to Word Power Books, the Edinburgh independent bookseller whose closure was announced this week.
David Bowie, devout sceptic
Like millions of other Bowie fans I find myself listening to his music more than ever since he died a year ago today….it continues to offer consolation, not only for the hard fact that we…
2017 and the idea of utopia
Billed as a year of imagination and possibility to mark the 500th anniversary of Thomas More’s Utopia, 2016 didn’t quite work out that way. 2017, the centenary of the Russian Revolution, offers another opportunity to…
Imagining a ‘progressive communitarianism’
Communitarianism doesn’t have to be regressive: the pre-war origins of social democracy hold lessons for today’s left.
Discerning the light: a sceptic explores the history of religion
Former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway, whose complex relationship with his own Christian tradition makes him perhaps the quintessential sceptical Scot, explores the history of religion in a new book.
Zionism, anti-semitism and the Left
“Rich navigates this exceptionally fraught and emotionally charged terrain with great sensitivity. But on occasion his focus on making plain the nature of leftist anti-Semitism leads him to understate or omit some important elements of…
So what’s so bad about being a Trotskyist?
Though there is fierce disagreement about the extent of any Marxist revolutionary incursion into Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour there is less dispute – for both his supporters and opponents – that it is bad news. For…
Roch Winds and the illusions of Civic Nationalism
A review of a fine new book by three young writers that offers a much needed razor-sharp critique of Scotland’s emerging political monoculture.