The Late Great Project of British Nation Building: Pathe News Presents from the ESRC! Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, December 16th 2009 A few years ago the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) decided to initiate an annual series called ‘Britain in ….’ each year. This was on one level some wheeze about academics thinking they were advancing public information/engagement, hitting some KPI target on Knowledge Transfer, while branding and positioning itself on newsagent shelves in the slipstream of ‘The Economist The World in …’ annual series. For all its faults as a magazine, ‘The Economist The World ….’ series is

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Gerry's Top Sixty Albums of the Decade Part Three December 16th 2009 Nos. 40-31 40. America Brasil, Seu Jorge, 2008 Rio born Jorge broke through with the music for the film ‘City of God’ and then at some point did an album of Bowie covers in Portuguese which got a lot of attention, but passed me by. This is an album of his own compositions, which while varied in style, has an overall sense of up-beatness, the spirit of bossa nova, being breezy and filled with life and vitality. 39. In a Bad Mood, Geraint Watkins, 2008 Watkins is one

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Gerry's Top Sixty Albums of the Decade Part Two December 15th 2009 Here is Part Two; numbers 50-41 .... 50. Singing for Life: Songs of Hope, Healing and HIV/AIDS in Uganda, 2007 What an unbelievably life-affirming album this is. Addressing one of the most serious issues of our time: the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, ‘Singing for Life’ details the response of Ugandan musicians. With titles such as ‘Death is Bad’, ‘AIDS Finished Us’ and ‘The Graveyard is Our Home’ some might think this a bleak listen, but it is a celebration of the human (and musical) spirit. 49.

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Groundhog Election Day: The Coming Scottish and UK Westminster Contests Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, December 15th 2009 As the festive season approaches the political and media classes play their own party game which is as familiar as ‘pass the parcel’: guess the election date. The end game of a five-year Parliament approaches, and an unpopular Prime Minister tries to keep his options between March, May and June, the last a non-runner. He knows he has a reputation as a ditherer, who forever will be remembered (like Jim Callaghan) as the PM who failed to call an election when the polls

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Gerry’s Top Sixty Albums of the Decade Part One December 14th 2009 Here it comes day by day …. Gerry’s countdown of the grooves he was listening to over the decade. First things first, this is my chart so the criterion is made up by me. It is mostly new things which came out over the ten years, but also includes some compilations and reissues. Second, looking back on it is interesting to see what is missing. So no ‘latest things’ such as Panda Bear or Fleet Foxes (bought and stuck on amazon within days of purchasing), and no

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The End of Fantasy Island Britain Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, December 11th 2009 Many things have changed in the last year: how we think of our politicians, the economy, bankers, the state, and yet a large part of our political classes, corporate opinion and the media seem intent on sailing on for the rocks as if nothing major has happened and ‘normal service’ will shortly be resumed upon HMS Great Britain! Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Review could not acknowledge this, but what we are witnessing is profound and long lasting and will shape our lives for decades. This is the slow

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Still Living in the Shadow of the Empire State Gerry Hassan December 11^th 2009 Britain might be tottering on the edge, subdued by multiple crises: the economic disaster, the crisis of our political classes and system, and the ongoing catastrophes of British foreign policy and the wars, invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet seldom do the mainstream political commentariat join all the dots, do their history and put all of this in a longer perspective. Hats off then to ‘The Economist’ Bagehot column last week, ‘The Tiger under the Table’ (1), which thankfully was not about Tiger

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Some Thoughts on Scotland’s Children and How We Listen to Each Other Gerry Hassan December 10th 2009 Last week I went to Bathgate Academy at the invitation of the Deputy Head Teacher Robbie McFedries to speak to their Sixth Year. Impressively each year they run what they call an Ethics Conference bringing together all their Sixth Year for a whole day of talks, discussions and activities. This year they had decided to address Scottish identity and asked me to look at the relationship between our past, present and future. It was an impressive day and the school hall was filled

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The Power of Story and Hope Continued Gerry Hassan December 9^th 2009 A beautiful piece by Libby Brooks in ‘The Guardian’ today on the wonderful work of the Galgael Trust in Govan who build astounding boats – Gaelic longboats or birlinns – and use this to aid young men and women refinding traditional skills, hope and exploring the waterways of the river Clyde (1). Her article also has a very positive mention of my Glasgow 2020 project, coming up for two and half years after it concluded its activities. She states talking about the work and conclusions of Glasgow

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In Celebration of Gil Scott-Heron Gerry Hassan December 8^th 2009 Gil Scott-Heron matters to me. Musically. Politically. Personally. For the stands he took interweaving politics, personal action and what it means to be a man trying to be honest and keep on the straight and narrow. A path which he himself tragically has found difficult to keep to at points …. Then of course there is the glorious Scottish connection of Gil’s father, Giles playing for Celtic in the 1950s. He became known as ‘the Black Arrow’ and was apparently a bit of a dandy boy! A couple

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