Issue 74
Jan – Feb 2013
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Is the modern city designed only for commercial interests? What does this mean for democracy, and for residents? Plus public ownership, private schooling, PFI ownership, a year of the Reid Foundation and what next for Radical Independence?
The modern city is a system for farming its residents and visitors on behalf of the retail and leisure sectors. How did we let this happen?
Malcolm Fraser argues that viewing our towns through the windscreen of a car has led to fragmented and dislocated communities. He outlines how he hopes his Town Centre review will help to change this.
Eoin Anderson, Neil Gray and Emily Roff look at just how far public and corporate interests have merged in the mind of Glasgow City Council, and what it means for the democratic city
Ewan Morrison explains how researching shopping malls for his novel opened his eyes to corruptions, distortions and ommissions which hide the real negative impact they have on our cities and our communities
Ronan Paddison explains that the diverse users of city centre public spaces make them easy for the elites to appropriate. They are spaces produced for us, not with us.
Andrew Cumbers calls for the left to develop the case for nationalisation and mutualisation in a 21st century context – and for mainstream politics to listen
Everyone knows Iceland had a financial crisis but not enough people know what happened next. Susan Pettie explained how Iceland managed a radical process for creating a new, democratic constitution.
Dave Shaw looks at the recent history of political attitudes and comments towards private schooling and behind the rhetoric finds very little reason to believe there is any serious hope of reform
Margaret and Jim Cuthbert ploughed through the data to discover who actually owns the schools and hospitals built through PFI. We should worry about the results.
In the year since the Jimmy Reid Foundation started it has established itself on the Scottish political scene - but we need your help, explains Robin McAlpine
Nearly a thousand people turned up for the Radical Independence Conference and enthusiasm was high. But can it go beyond a one-off event to become a sustainable movement?
Reviews of GMB@Work - the story behind the union and Arguing for Independence: Evidence, Risks and the Wicked Issues
RUTH DAVIDSON: “FEWER NURSES, MORE ORGANISED CRIME”