Culture
Sober thoughts on sectarianism
The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 is under the microscope; the anti-sectarian charity nilbymouth.org has launched a new #KissBigotryGoodbye campaign aimed at soccer clubs and fans. Here Loki takes a…
Wrong approach to language and integration
David Cameron’s ham-fisted plans to help mainly Muslim women learn English have rightly been condemned for stigmatising people – not least as government funding for teaching English as a second language has been cut. Here…
Onwards and upwards: the hubris of hope
What is hope? What would it mean to wish that 2016 will be any better than 2015? As we enter the New Year the latest book by the prolific Terry Eagleton, Hope Without Optimism, offers…
I could murder a bit of good news
The Violence Reduction Unit’s Rapper in Residence celebrates recent headlines claiming Glasgow is no longer Britain’s most violent city. He urges communities to reject the myth that violence is something to be proud of and…
Poetry helps us face facts of life … and death
David Bowie always accepted that life was finite but called death “a drag”. By the time he released his last album and accompanying video he knew death was imminent. Poetry helps us live with that…
Tunnock’s teagate: patriotic addiction?
Confectionery-maker Tunnock’s has dropped its Scottish lion to promote itself as a British brand south of the border. It’s provoked a storm of ‘patriotic’ protest. But, argues Loki, isn’t the issue about our culture of…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – today’s Homeric epic
For those of a certain age the success of the latest episode in the Star Wars series seems strangely important. Reflections on the abiding popularity of a cultural icon.
Home thoughts by homeless young people
We think of the poor and vulnerable, especially those on the streets or in refugee camps, at this season. The Rock Trust does this all year round for the young homeless in Scotland’s capital city.…
Our five Most Reads in 2015
Sceptical Scot celebrates its first birthday in March 2016. Here we look back on the five most read articles/blogs of 2015 and wish you all a happy new year.
Sunset song for winter solstice
Even in the turbulent days of global warming the Winter Solstice is a turning point towards the light. Poets, as here George Mackay Brown, celebrate “the pale sun” and fire and ice as “we push…
Urban regeneration: art’s new avant-garde
Is urban regeneration a new art form now that Assemble have won the Turner Prize? How far can art housed in ‘white cube-style’ galleries a la Whistler change people’s lives? We examine these and related…
Inventing the Future: a world beyond neoliberalism
Is a future beyond neoliberalism possible? Justin Reynolds begins a new series of reviews of recent books that seek to imagine an alternative (left) economic and political order.