scottish independence | Pandaemonium

THE STRANGE NEW LANDSCAPE OF SCOTLAND

November 19, 2014 by Kenan Malik

Ken MacLeod is a Scottish science fiction writer, blogger and ‘habitual Labour voter’. He has set a number of his novels in a future, independent Scotland, but campaigned for a ‘No’ vote in the recent independence referendum. I am delighted that he has written an essay for Pandaemonium, based on a recent talk for BBC Radio 4’s World This Weekend, about the strangeness of the post-referendum political landscape in Scotland. Ken MacLeod The strange new landscape of Scotland Scotland is in a […]

Categories: Britain, Politics • Tags: labour party, left, scottish independence, snp

SCOTLAND, CLACTON AND THE POLITICS OF DISAFFECTION

September 26, 2014 by Kenan Malik

This is the first part of my latest column for the International New York Times, published under the headline ‘United Kingdom, Divided People’, on the fallout from the Scottish referendum. You can read the complete version in the INYT. Last week, Scotland voted to reject independence and to remain part of the United Kingdom. Yet — oh, the irony! — the greatest impact of the vote may be the fomenting of an English nationalism and the greater fragmentation of the Union. […]

Categories: Britain, Politics • Tags: devolution, england, englishness, identity politics, national identity, nationalism, scotland, scottish independence, snp, ukip

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE: FROM WHAT, FOR WHAT?

September 5, 2014 by Kenan Malik

There are two fundamental issues at the heart of the Scottish independence debate: Independence from what? And for what? The answers to both questions seem obvious. Independence for Scotland means independence from the UK, or, more specifically, from rule from London. And it would be independence for Scotland to pursue its own policies. Dig a little deeper, though, and we find that the answers are not nearly so straightforward. The nationalists seem strangely reluctant truly to break away from Westminster. […]

Categories: Britain, Justice & Liberties, Politics • Tags: british politics, britishness, identity politics, nationalism, populism, scottish independence, ukip

BEYOND THE VOTE

January 2, 2014 by Kenan Malik

Two key elections are likely to dominate much political debate this year. The contrast between them helps throw light on the meaning of democracy. Later this year, between April and June, South Africans will go to the polls in the first elections of the post-Mandela era. Ever since South Africa’s first democratic poll in 1994, elections in the country have been defined less by political issues than by race and party loyalty. Blacks have overwhelmingly supported the ANC; whites have […]

Categories: Britain, International, Politics • Tags: democracy, marikana, nelson mandela, scotland, scottish independence, south africa