In the first of a series of articles, Bill Johnston looks the so-called troublesome demographics. This is the first in a series of three linked articles on the implications of an ageing population for Scottish politics and civil society. This article outlines the demographic issues, and challenges the current ‘dependency’ framing of retirement. Current Scottish […]
Mike Quille explains why culture is critical to human being and how it and we can flourish Culture matters to the many, not just the few. This article is a contribution to the growing debate and campaigns on the socialist left, in the labour movement and in academia about culture, the cultural struggle and cultural […]
BlacKkKlansman (2018) – Writer and Director: Spike Lee Reviewed by Jackie Bergson For those of you who missed out on seeing BlacKkKlansman while it was on general release earlier this year, you might like to make a point of catching it now on a digital format. Insightful and pointedly timely, Spike Lee’s crime drama’s truth-telling […]
Chris Bambery and George Kerevan, Catalonia Reborn; How Catalonia Took on the Corrupt Spanish State and the Legacy of Franco, 2018, Luath, £12.99, 9781912147380 Reviewed by Bill Bonnar. This recently published work is a welcome account of the current struggle for Catalan independence. Most relevant are the first chapter, Birth of a Republic, and the […]
James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Commentary by Douglas Gifford, Readings by John Sheldon, Association for Scottish Literary Studies, £14.95, 9780948877827 Reviewed by Sean Sheehan This is a set of two CDs, not the book by James Hogg that was published anonymously in 1824 and best read in the Oxford […]
The International Companion to James Macpherson and the Poems of Ossian, edited by Dafydd Moore, Scottish Literature International, £14.95, 9781908980199 James Macpherson, The Poems of Ossian: The Son of Fingal (Classic Reprint), Forgotten Books, £12.85, 9781331367130 Reviewed by Sean Sheehan. James Macpherson was born in Inverness-shire in 1736, the son of a tenant farmer, and […]
John Kelly Contemporary Trotskyism: Parties, Sects and Social Movements in Britain, 2018, Routledge, 9781138943810, £23.99, pp296 Reviewed by Gordon Morgan The Fourth International held its first congress 80 years ago on 3 September 1938 in France. It is timely that this book has been published as it relates to the enduring legacy of Leon Trotsky, […]
Darren McGarvey Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain’s Underclass, Luath, 2018, 9781912147038, £7.99 Reviewed by Seán Duffy Something of a surprise winner of the Orwell Prize, Darren McGarvey’s journey through the travails of growing up on the sharp end of the economic spectrum is a worthy recipient of praise and pondering. The avenue of […]
Wade Rathke Nuts and Bolts: The ACORN Fundamentals of Organizing, Social Policy Press, 2018, 0997094311 Reviewed by Tony Adams Nuts and Bolts is a compendium of tools, examples from the field, advice and tips for building power and effective mass organisation in the community, workplaces, politics and the media. Rathke shares almost 50 years of […]
Vladimir McTavish’s A KICK UP THE TABLOIDS There has been no lack of hyperbole in the media over the past few months as Britain approaches the cliff edge of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. The headlines have boomed out on the front pages and on the BBC. This is ‘The Most Important Constitutional Crisis since the Abdication’, […]