The Continued Allure of the Beatles and the Sixties and Listening to ‘The White Album’
The Continued Allure of the Beatles and the Sixties and Listening to ‘The White Album’ Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 20th 2018 The Sixties never really went away. We have had the baby boomers and their endless nostalgia about themselves and their youth - followed by the soft disappointment for many of the decades that came after, culturally and politically, which has meant that the allure of the sixties has continued to burn bright. The Beatles ‘White Album’ turns fifty this week - last year it was ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and next it will be ‘Abbey Road’. It has been marked
It was twenty years ago: Scotland, our Parliament and the limits of Devolution
It was twenty years ago: Scotland, our Parliament and the limits of Devolution Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 14th 2018 Twenty years ago Scotland began the devolution era when the Scotland Act 1998, which established the framework for the Scottish Parliament, achieved Royal Assent on 19 November 1998 – the final parliamentary debate having taken place two days before in the House of Lords. Much has happened in the intervening twenty years. The Scottish Parliament was set up with a Scottish Executive, which morphed into the Scottish Government. Donald Dewar became the first of five First Ministers, and died tragically
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Glasgow Govan: The Seat that Rocked and Made Modern Scotland
Glasgow Govan: The Seat that Rocked and Made Modern Scotland Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 7th 2018 Thirty years ago Scotland was a very different place. Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, the poll tax was yet to be implemented, and there was no Scottish Parliament. Then along came the Govan by-election – a seat that produced a political sensation and set of shockwaves that reverberated throughout Scottish and UK politics with an impact years after the event. Exactly thirty years ago this weekend – on 10 November 1988 – Jim Sillars, ex-Labour MP, left-winger and powerful orator, won the
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Trump, Bolsonaro, Orban: This is not an Age of Fascism Yet
Trump, Bolsonaro, Orban: This is not an Age of Fascism Yet Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 31st 2018 A spectre is haunting the modern world: fascism. All around the world people are talking about and identifying fascists. Newspaper headlines abound in the US such as ‘Is Donald Trump a fascist?’, ‘How fascist is Donald Trump?’ and even more emphatically, ‘Donald Trump is actually a fascist’: all from mainstream liberal papers. The threat of fascism is now a worldwide phenomenon. We have just seen in the Brazil the victory of ‘strongman’ Jair Bolsonaro; the Hungarian authoritarianism of Viktor Orban; the rise
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British politics, Misogyny and the Prejudice which festers in the Tories
British politics, Misogyny and the Prejudice which festers in the Tories Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 24th 2018 The political world has been seen as an abrasive, macho and male club for centuries. Across the West this has meant to have changed in the last couple of decades with record levels of women’s representation and women leaders across the world. Yet, despite this, the male exclusivity tag still hangs over much politics. Neither the Labour Party or Liberal Democrats (or their predecessors the Liberals) have ever had a woman leader. The Tories may have given the UK two leaders and
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Coming Together or Falling Apart? Freedom of Speech in the Age of Noise
Coming Together or Falling Apart? Freedom of Speech in the Age of Noise Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 17th 2018 The context and limits of freedom of speech have always been important, but everywhere this seems to have become increasingly contentious. Whether it is white supremacists in the US declaring they are protecting the US way of life, our very own home-grown hate speak from Tommy Robinson, or the multiple sensitivities, claims and counter-claims on transgender issues something seems to be going on. Only last weekend there was a mini-controversy when Ann Henderson, Edinburgh University’s Rector, retweeted details of an
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Toxic Masculinity must be defeated. Silence is not an option for any of us
Toxic Masculinity must be defeated. Silence is not an option for any of us Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 10th 2018 Hate seems to be everywhere in public life. This week Scottish Justice minister Humza Yousaf floated making misogyny a specific hate crime illegal, while in the previous week, the Scottish Government launched a high profile campaign against hate crime. Look around the world for numerous, state-sponsored examples - US President Donald Trump, the Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte with his rape comment after the killing of an Australian missionary Jacqueline Hamill that ‘the mayor should have been first’, and Brazilian
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Whatever happened to the springtime for democracy?
Whatever happened to the springtime for democracy? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 18th 2018 Three decades ago democracy was the future and carrying all before it. The Soviet bloc was collapsing, the South African apartheid regime was crumbling - and all across South America brutal dictatorships were being replaced by democracies (however imperfect) symbolised by the fall of the Pinochet junta. Today the state of the world could not look more different and feel less optimistic. There are still many more democracies than there even a decade ago, but somehow the springtime for people power promised three decades ago has
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Who is going to champion Glasgow? Life after the GSA fire and the threat to the CCA
Who is going to champion Glasgow? Life after the GSA fire and the threat to the CCA Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 12th 2018 Glasgow hasn’t had to look too far to seek its troubles of late. There has been the devastating Glasgow School of Art fire (the second in four years), followed by the seeming abandonment of Sauchiehall Street businesses and residents. And if that weren’t enough in the last week there have been concerns that the acclaimed arts and cultural venue, the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), shut since the GSA fire, faces the prospect of closure. The
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Speaking for Scotland: The Salmond Case, Independence and the Silences of Modern Life
Speaking for Scotland: The Salmond Case, Independence and the Silences of Modern Life Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 5th 2018 The Salmond controversy has garnered huge press coverage. Beyond the actual cases itself, this says a lot about the state of Scotland. I am not making any assumptions about the guilt or innocence of Alex Salmond or the veracity of the accusations. This case is not just about Salmond or the allegations, but casts a wider light on some aspects of Scottish life, with certain parts of society not coming up smelling of roses. A caveat. ‘This is what we
