Michael Forbes, Donald Trump and the Unpredictable Scotland Emerging
Michael Forbes, Donald Trump and the Unpredictable Scotland Emerging Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, December 1st 2012 The Scots have a strange and often perplexing relationship with those in authority and power. Sometimes we damn them and at other times we choose to believe their official story. More often than we show a lack of curiosity in scrutinising and challenging authority. Instead, there is a deafening silence of the Scots across large acres of public life, in conferences, gatherings and fora which represent ‘civic Scotland’. Michael Forbes has been a huge exception to this general rule. The Aberdeenshire farmer who stood
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A Different Creative Culture after Managerialism and Paternalism
A Different Creative Culture after Managerialism and Paternalism Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, November 10th 2012 The last few months have seen a gathering storm about Creative Scotland, the leading arts and culture organisation in the country. A letter signed by more than one hundred of our leading artists and cultural practitioners, signalled their concerns and called out for a change of direction. The breadth of opposition, ranging across generations, political views and art forms, uniting independence supporting James Kelman with pro-union advocates such as James MacMillan, cannot be easily ignored. But what is left unsaid is the wider context,
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The Language of Violence
The Language of Violence Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, February 19th 2011 For many years I have thought that changing Scotland involved talking about issues, policy and politics. I have slowly begun to realise that this is putting the cart before the horse. Instead we have to take a much more important and simple first step: learning how to debate, discuss and disagree in an appropriate manner. All across Scotland in public and private life – there is a low level language of violence which sometimes leads to action. We see this in personal relationships, public spaces and in our politics.
