Changin Scotland A weekend of politics, culture and ideas …. And fun! Friday March 28^th-Sunday March 30^th The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool WHO HAS POWER IN MODERN SCOTLAND? In association with the Reid Foundation Friday March 28^th 8.00-9.30pm: Welcome: Gerry Hassan and Jean Urquhart Scotland after the Crash: The Collapse of RBS Ian Fraser, author, forthcoming ‘Shredded: The Rise and Fall of RBS’ (more…)

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The Battle for Britain and Why Alex Salmond and Independence Has Already Won Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, February 7th 2014 This year is witnessing several battles for Britain – of numerous anniversaries of past military triumphs, of the Scottish independence referendum, and the rising tide of the Tory Party’s continued obsession with Europe. All of these are inter-related in the long-term, almost existential, crisis of what Britain is, what is it for, what kind of society and values it represents, and what kind of future it offers its people. This tumultuous moment we now find ourselves in is one with

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Radical Nostalgia Scotland and Why We Can’t Go Back to the 1970s Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 5th 2014 Scotland’s current debate on independence comprises many conversations. They centre on what we were, are and could be, and who did what to whom in the past, and what it means about where we are now, and what we could become in the future. Many of these aspects were to the fore last week at a Jim Sillars-Alex Neil event to launch Jim’s new book, ‘In Place of Fear II’, under the auspices of ‘Yes Airdrie’. On a cold Thursday night,

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The Empathy Gap: Divided Scotland and the Problem of Fantasyland Britain Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 29th 2014 It has become part of the commonsense account of the independence campaign that there is a problem with some of the more vociferous, partisan supporters. In one perspective, frequently spun in the mainstream media, this problem is predominantly, if not exclusively, about the ‘cybernat’ phenomenon. Numerous examples are brought out, from comedian Susan Calman facing invective for comments on independence, to incidents with Chris Hoy and Susan Boyle being verbally abused online. Yet to pose the ‘cybernats’ as the sole problem, as

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Scotland International: A Letter from Istanbul Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, January 25th 2014 Europe from its edges, corners and fuzzy borderlands looks and feels rather different than it does from elsewhere. Here in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, Scotland’s debate and the UK’s never-ending turmoil with regard to its relationship with Europe, seems far removed. Yet what is striking is that there are commonalities between these examples as I contemplate life looking at the shores of the Bosphorus – that historic meeting and clashing point of cultures, and the crossroads between Europe and Asia. Scotland’s deliberations are about

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The Art of Living Together and the Art of Dying Gerry Hassan National Collective, January 22nd 2014 Sometimes it takes outside voices to reinforce what you already know. So it was with Fintan O’Toole and the second in the series of Glasgow School of Art-University of the West of Scotland ‘Cultures of Independence’ seminars. O’Toole is author of the acclaimed books, ‘Ship of Fools’ and ‘Enough is Enough’ (1), both wonderful and powerful counter blasts to the baloney and bubble of the Celtic Tiger and its excesses. He is of no doubt that Scotland is at a hugely important

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Be Clear Who Britain is Great For Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, January 18th 2014 The independence debate is about many things - politics, practicalities, personalities. More than this it is about emotions – ranging from hope and fear, to anger, indignation and even incomprehension. We have heard enough about the supposedly ‘Braveheart’ idea of Scottish independence, but what of the emotional case for Britain and the union? There is still a powerful, resonant argument for the UK in its present form which has appeal and a rationale, albeit a declining one. This week Chris Deerin in ‘The Guardian’ (in a

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The Battle for Britain and Daring to Believe We Can Do Better Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, January 11th 2014 In the last couple of weeks, two visions of Britain have been articulated. Both are clear, concise, utterly sure of themselves and the justice of their case, and both are equally partial. One is Tory MEP Daniel Hannan’s notion of a free floating, buccaneering, outward looking UK, which would slip its moorings with the European Union and reposition itself in new waters – mixing the English speaking world of the Anglosphere with re-establishing old connections with the Commonwealth and new ones

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Dreams of my Father and an Elegy for a Lost Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday Herald, January 5th 2014 Twenty years ago last October, my father, Edwin, died. I was a young man at the time, in my late twenties, and my dad’s death was a major moment in my life, of maturing, of putting life in perspective, and of sadness. In the months coming up to the anniversary of his death this year, his memory came more to the fore, as I reflected on his life and influence on myself. Truth be told, my father had in his last

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Why the Politics of Hope not Optimism are the Future Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, January 4th 2014 One of the great myths of modern life is the power of optimism. Optimism, so the argument goes, can get you far. It can make you a winner, change individual life circumstances, make people rich or help them battle out of poverty. In the world of politics and campaigning, optimism is seen by many as the key particularly in American Presidential elections – such as Ronald Reagan in 1984 (‘It’s morning again in America’), and Barack Obama in 2008 (‘Yes We Can’) 

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