Overview

From three of the best-known figures on the Scottish radical left, Scotland After Britain shines a spotlight on the reshaped terrain of pro-independence politics, situating Scotland’s independence within wider European and global trends. Examining socialists’ responses to the independence movement – from John Maclean and Tom Nairn to the Radical Independence Campaign – the authors make the case for supporting independence. Scotland After Britain addresses the problems for socialist strategy in Scotland, providing a picture of what an independent Scotland could be like, beyond the social neoliberalism of the SNP. It lays out the type of policies that could be introduced in the short-to medium term by a left coalition government to begin the process of transforming Scotland. How can the economy of a relatively small country be democratized while it still part of the world capitalist system? Key here are questions of external ownership, international trade and the currency. How could Scotland shift away from fossil fuels and reliance on oil to an economy focussed on renewables without sacrificing jobs? Tackling the myth of ‘non-racist Scotland’ and the question of migration, unionization of the service sector and considering alliances with other currently stateless nations on a similar trajectory, Scotland After Britain sets out the immediate steps which the Yes movement needs to take to win IndyRef2.

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9781788735810

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The Scottish independence movement, as the authors show in this tour d'force analysis, has two contending souls. On one hand, the SNP provides yet another classic illustration of Robert Michel's 'iron law of oligarchy'-the tendency following electoral successes for progressive party leaders and politicians to build their own bureaucratic machines based on patronage and more conservative goals. On the other hand, the independence movement, still vividly alive at the grassroots, is the most realistic platform for socialist renewal in the ruins of UKania. -Mike Davis

Author Information

James Foley has recently completed his PhD on the Scottish economy since 1971 at the University of Edinburgh. He is the co-author of an article on contemporary referendums in the forthcoming issue of The Socialist Register and (with Pete Ramand) of Yes: The Radical Case for Scottish Independence. Ben Wray is Head of Policy and Research with Common Weal foundation, is a columnist on the Commonspace website and previously worked for the Jimmy Reid Foundation. Neil Davidson lectured in Sociology at the University of Glasgow and is the author of six books, including the Deutscher-Prize-winning Discovering the Scottish Revolution and, most recently, Nation-States. He wrote some of the most widely-read analyses of the previous referendum and Scottish independence for print and on-line journals including Bella Caledonia, Jacobin, New Left Review, Radical Philosophy and Salvage.

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