The 'Radical Current': Nationalism and the Radical Left In

H-Nationalism The Left and Nationalism Monthly Series: “The ‘Radical Current’: Nationalism and the Radical Left in Scotland, 1967-1979” by Rory Scothorne

Discussion published by Emmanuel Dalle Mulle on Friday, May 25, 2018 H-Nationalism is proud to publish here the seventh post of its “The Left and Nationalism Monthly Series”, which looks at the relationship between nationalism and left-wing movements and thinking in a multi-disciplinary perspective. Today’s contribution, by Rory Scothorne (University of Edinburgh), inquires into the relationship between the radical Left and the rise of Scottish nationalism between the end of the 1960s and the late 1970s.

In 1998, summarising decades of campaigns for the Scottish Parliament which had been endorsed in a referendum a year earlier, Lindsay Paterson wrote that ‘at its most rational, the debate has been about good and effective government, how best to manage the affairs of Scotland and, more widely, the UK or Europe.’[1] He noted that devolution ‘would have got nowhere’ had it simply been about good government: ‘the emotional fuel on all sides has come from some version of politicised national identity.’[2] This ‘emotional fuel,’ he suggested, came largely from a ‘radical current’ on the left which ‘gained its sustenance, not from the Labour movement, but from a wholesale shift towards nationalism in Scottish intellectual culture.’[3]

This association of the left – or, more specifically, some formulation of theradical left – with the ‘emotive’ or ‘utopian’ aspects of the campaigns for some measure of Scottish self-government is a common, if consistently underexplored, theme in scholarship and broader commentary on devolution and Scottish nationalism.[4] Amongst the various ways in which radical and Scottish identities are yoked together, the most common is to present their relationship as a powerful national myth.[5]

It is important, however, to distinguish between myth and narrative. Narrative – found in as much non-fiction as fiction on the shelves of your local bookshop – is a way of creatively making sense of the world, a necessary guide through a world of chaos and flux; myths, on the other hand, are better understood as degenerated narratives, made hard and inflexible by stagnation and overuse. Roland Barthes writes that ‘the very principle of myth’ is ‘that it transforms history into

In the era focused on here, roughly between 1967 and 1979, the radical left in Scotland developed a set of narratives about itself, Scotland and the British state through which it could make sense of and justify its engagement with the politics of Scottish autonomy that came to dominate Scottish politics during the 1970s, as the Scottish National Party surged in support and the ‘British’ parties fiddled with plans to devolve power in response. In order to do this, the Scottish radical left developed what Nancy Fraser calls a ‘counter-public sphere,’ defined as ‘parallel discursive arenas where members of subordinated social groups invent and circulate counterdiscourses, which in turn permit them to formulate oppositional interpretations of their identities, interests, and needs.’[7] The narratives generated through this counter-public sphere were, in some senses, highly successful: through historical imagination and political prophecy, they helped to justify a ‘radical’ engagement with moderate devolutionary politics which chimed with the priorities of the radical left, and developed radical critiques of the British state and Scottish society which would be absorbed into broader nationalist and left discourse.[8] Perhaps most importantly, they constructed an infrastructure for intellectual and cultural practices which would be crucial to the better-known cultural revival of the 1980s.[9] However, the reliance of these living narratives on the inevitability of constitutional change meant that, after the dashing of initial expectations in 1979’s ‘failed’ referendum on devolution, they struggled to survive their incorporation into the more elite-driven devolutionary coalition of later decades. Incorporation gradually dissolved these distinct radical agendas – and with them, an autonomous radical left tradition – into a more moderate, governmental one, paving the way for their own reification as myth.

It was out of a fog of older myths that Scotland’s counter-public sphere made its first tentative steps in the late 1960s. In 1967, the SNP’s Winnie Ewing won a by-election in Hamilton, which had been a Labour safe seat, shocking much of the British political establishment. Prompted by this, 1968 saw two key publications: Tom Nairn’s essay, ‘The Three Dreams of Scottish Nationalism’ in the New Left Review, and the first issue of the magazine Scottish International. Nairn’s essay, grappling with the roots and consequences of Scottish ‘difference’, was typical of his narrative style: delving into history, accompanied by the latest developments in continental philosophy, to identify deep structures of Scottish historical development, followed

Citation: Emmanuel Dalle Mulle. The Left and Nationalism Monthly Series: “The ‘Radical Current’: Nationalism and the Radical Left in Scotland, 1967-1979” by Rory Scothorne. H-Nationalism. 05-25-2018. https://networks.h-net.org/node/3911/discussions/1862513/left-and-nationalism-monthly-series-%E2%80%9C-%E2%80%98radical-curre nt%E2%80%99 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2 H-Nationalism by wildly self-confident prophecy.[10] He argued that the nature of Scotland’s incorporation into the union had led to a repressed national identity, manifesting in various cultural neuroses rather than a political struggle for independence; this had produced a particularly reactionary bourgeoisie, whose ‘rough-hewn sadism - as foreign to the English as anything in New Guinea - will surely be present in whatever junta of corporal-punishers and Kirk-going cheese-parers Mrs. Ewing might preside over one day in Edinburgh.’[11] This led into more practical conclusions: ‘‘For Scottish Socialists,’ he wrote, ‘these contradictions will be murderous unless they build up their own Nationalism to oppose the SNP and - beyond immediate politics - to come to terms with Scotland’s complex cultural inheritance…’[12]

This ‘Socialist Nationalism,’ he suggested, was one ‘whose dream has dimensions which really correspond to those of the stubborn visionary drive towards identity we have been considering - and which is a part of living contemporary history and of an arising future - not a stale memory of bourgeois nationality, to enshrine all the other stale memories the country has lived off for so long.’[13]

This argument laid out a comprehensive set of ideological foundations for the decade to come. Three features stand out: first, the idea that Scotland has a ‘complex cultural inheritance’ of its own, which requires the construction of a distinctive analysis of Scottish society and an autonomous political strategy of the Scottish left. Second, that this autonomy must not only be from the British left, but from the hegemonic forces of Scottish politics too – a double autonomy, resisting the incorporating crosscurrents of both British and Scottish society; and finally a sense of an alternative, ‘living’ and ‘contemporary’ dream of Scottish identity which is more amenable to socialist appropriation.

Scotland’s ‘complex cultural inheritance’ was of particular interest to those involved with Scottish International, founded in 1968 with funding and encouragement from the Scottish Arts Council.[14] Its first editorial in January 1968 identified the SNP’s rise as a signal of vague ‘discontent’ and ‘unease’ with Scotland’s peripherality to the ‘large centre of power and influence’ in London.[15] This situation demanded ‘an atmosphere of lively, perceptive and informed debate,’ in order to ‘see which issues are really there.’[16] It was both national and international in ambition: ‘A colourless or promiscuous internationalism is to nobody’s advantage,’ stated the editorial, ‘but a self-conscious cultural nationalism can lead to bad habits of stereotyped thinking and unwillingness to look at the situation as it really is. Our policy will be to look for

Yet this critical conscience had its own exclusions and silences when it came to radicalising Scottish society. In particular, the editorial boards and contents pages of these magazines were almost entirely populated by men, and their concerns rarely touched on the questions being raised by an emerging women’s liberation movement in Scotland. The clearest challenge to the gendered lopsidedness of Scotland’s alternative press came in 1977, with the publication of theScottish Women’s Liberation Journal. Its first editorial identified several of the same issues found in the mission statements of the other magazines: ‘we can discover the particular areas of oppression that exist in conjunction with those that are general under capitalism. We can elucidate the role that a women’s movement can play within the particular constellation of Scottish politics.’[18] The need for a distinctive forum for theorising and promoting Scottish women’s liberation was clear, and the editorial stated that ‘it is simply impractical to attempt to conduct discussions through already existing journals based in London.’[19]

The prospect of greater autonomy for Scotland shaped the ways in which the Scottish women’s liberation movement understood itself and its future: in Eveline Hunter’s 1978 book Scottish Woman’s Place, a comprehensive feminist survey of the distinctive legal circumstances facing Scottish women, she wrote that a Scottish Assembly would resolve the problems of parliamentary scheduling that had held back key reforms from being extended to Scotland.[20] But, she suggested that ‘resistance to change is also to blame,’ citing the deep influence of Calvinism, Scottish MPs’ ‘track record’ on abortion and the ‘larger Catholic vote,’ as well as the lack of powers of the proposed Assembly.[21] Nevertheless, she argued that ‘the coming of an Assembly would provide an opportunity for public discussion on these areas. The Women’s Liberation movement in Scotland should seize this opportunity to campaign for changes in the law and how it is operated, as a means of publicising and increasing awareness of the continuing oppression of women. We cannot expect our English sisters to do so for us, ignorant as many of them seem of the difficulties we face.’[22]

The ‘coming of the Assembly’ – despite its ultimate two-decade postponement – had already provided an opportunity for discussion, not in a unified national ‘public’, but through the various counter-publics that sprang up during the 1970s in Scotland. This cultural and intellectual infrastructure, of which the examples I’ve discussed are only a small snapshot, was not only a vehicle for the invention of a new,

Yet we cannot understand this tradition by subordinating it to its function within a broader revival of national identity. One of the longest-lasting periodicals,Crann- Tàra, encapsulated the spirit of this tradition at its most disputatious. One editorial stated: ‘We don’t want the contract to build John Maclean’s mausoleum.[23] Let others squabble over that. And you can stuff your ‘knit a shawl for independence’ brigade. Our purpose is to manufacture the suicide pills for the new Scottish Establishment. Lord have mercy on their souls! We won’t.’[24] Yet Crann-Tàra articulated a pragmatic approach to devolution, situating it within a narrative of colonial liberation and identifying home rule as a necessary step towards independence – its editorials criticised ‘the shibboleth of independence’ and the SNP’s ‘manic vanguardism,’ calling instead for ‘a non-partisan front for Home Rule, a new Home Rule Association for the 80s.’[25] After the failure of devolution in 1979, it sought to bring together the socialists in the SNP and home rulers amongst the socialists.[26] In 1982, Crann-Tàra rebranded, abandoning the Gaelic name which its editorial collective suspected was alienating potential readers.[27] Its new form, as the magazine Radical Scotland, would go on to become a crucial forum for the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly.[28] The Constitutional Convention which emerged from this, however, was rather more sympathetic to the ‘new Scottish establishment’ than Crann-Tàra.[29] Yet the stories its participants and supporters told about Scotland – as a left-wing nation where the people were sovereign – reflected, in mythic form, much of the legacy of the radical left’s efforts to justify its own excitable engagement with what was, ultimately, not a particularly radical process. From the perspective of the radical left, that engagement was not just ‘emotive’ or ‘utopian’ but had its own more profane rationality: the ideal of autonomy allowed Scottish radicals to carve out a distinctive terrain for themselves between the British left and Scottish society, and to make some meaning out of their changing, often isolated place within both.

Bibliography

Barthes, Roland., Mythologies (London: Penguin, 2009)

Craig, Cairns., ‘Sham Bards, Sham Nation, Sham Politics: Scotland, Nationalism and

Socialism’, The Irish Review 8 (Spring 1990), pp.21-33

Craig, Cairns., The Wealth of the Nation: Scotland, Culture and Independence (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018)

‘Editorial’, Crann-Tàra 3 (Summer 1978), p.3

‘Editorial’, Crann-Tàra 4 (Autumn 1978), p.2

‘Editorial’, Crann-Tàra 8 (Autumn 1979), p.2

‘Editorial’, Crann-Tàra 15 (Autumn 1981), p.2

‘Editorial’, Scottish International 1:1 (January 1968), p.1

‘Editorial’, Scottish Women’s Liberation Journal 1 (Spring 1977), p.2

Fraser, Nancy., ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy’, Social Text 25/26 (1990), pp.56-80

Gall, Gregor., The Political Economy of Scotland: Red Scotland? Radical Scotland? (Cardiff: Welsh Academic Press, 2005)

Gibson, Corey., The Voice of the People: Hamish Henderson and Scottish Cultural Politics (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015)

Hassan, Gerry., Caledonian Dreaming: The Quest for a Different Scotland (Edinburgh: Luath, 2014)

Harvie, Christopher., Scotland & Nationalism: Scottish Society and Politics, 1707-1994 (London: Routledge, 1994)

Hunter, Eveline., Scottish Woman’s Place: A Practical Guide and Critical Comment on Women’s Rights in Scotland (Edinburgh: EUSPB, 1978)

Jackson, Ben., ‘The Political Thought of Scottish Nationalism’,Political Quarterly 85:1 (2014), pp.50-56

Mitchell, James., Strategies for Self-Government: The Campaigns for a Scottish Parliament (Edinburgh: Polygon, 1996)

Mitchell, James., The Scottish Question (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014)

Nairn, Tom., ‘The Three Dreams of Scottish Nationalism’,New Left Review 1:49 (May-June 1968)

Paterson, Lindsay., A Diverse Assembly: The Debate on a Scottish Parliament (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998)

[1] Lindsay Paterson, A Diverse Assembly: The Debate on a Scottish Parliament(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998), p.2 [2] Ibid, p.4 [3] Ibid, pp.76-77 [4] James Mitchell, The Scottish Question (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), p.281; Gerry Hassan, Caledonian Dreaming: The Quest for a Different Scotland (Edinburgh: Luath, 2014), pp.34-45 [5] Gregor Gall, The Political Economy of Scotland: Red Scotland? Radical Scotland? (Cardiff: Welsh Academic Press, 2005), p.6 [6] Roland Barthes, Mythologies (London: Penguin, 2009), p.142 [7] Nancy Fraser, ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy’, Social Text 25/26 (1990), p.67 [8] Ben Jackson, ‘The Political Thought of Scottish Nationalism’, Political Quarterly 85:1 (2014), p.50 [9] Cairns Craig, The Wealth of the Nation: Scotland, Culture and Independence(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018) [10] Tom Nairn, ‘The Three Dreams of Scottish Nationalism’, New Left Review 1:49 (May-June 1968) [11] Ibid, p.16 [12] Ibid [13] Ibid, p.17 [14] Christopher Harvie, Scotland & Nationalism: Scottish Society and Politics, 1707-1994 (London: Routledge, 1994), p.163 [15] ‘Editorial’, Scottish International 1:1 (January 1968), p.1

[16] Ibid, p.3 [17] Ibid [18] ‘Editorial’, Scottish Women’s Liberation Journal 1 (Spring 1977), p.2 [19] Ibid [20] Eveline Hunter, Scottish Woman’s Place: A Practical Guide and Critical Comment on Women’s Rights in Scotland (Edinburgh: EUSPB, 1978), p.12 [21] Ibid [22] Ibid [23] John Maclean was a Marxist educator and anti-war activist in Glasgow, who attained iconic status on the Scottish radical left after his death in 1923 [24] ‘Editorial’, Crann-Tàra 4 (Autumn 1978), p.2 [25] ‘Editorial’, Crann-Tàra 3 (Summer 1978), p.3 [26] ‘Editorial’, Crann-Tàra 8 (Autumn 1979), p.2 [27] ‘Editorial’, Crann-Tàra 15 (Autumn 1981), p.2 [28] James Mitchell, Strategies for Self-Government: The Campaigns for a Scottish Parliament (Edinburgh: Polygon, 1996), p.104 [29] Cairns Craig, ‘Sham Bards, Sham Nation, Sham Politics: Scotland, Nationalism and Socialism’, The Irish Review 8 (Spring 1990), p.21