Search results for ""Author Neil Davidson""

In his latest collection of essays, Neil Davidson brings his formidable analytical powers to bear on the concept of the capitalist nation-state. Through probing inquiry, Davidson draws out how nationalist ideology and consciousness is used to bind the subordinate classes to 'the nation', while simultaneously using 'the state' as a means of conducting geopolitical competition for capital. Davidson argues that a Marxist understanding of the meaning of contemporary nation-states must begin from the inseparable connections between them.

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Neil Davidson explores classic themes in historical materialism and Marxism as he explains concepts such as the moments of transition from the dominance of one mode of production to another (industrialisation), the process of social revolution which has always accompanied these transitions (unionisation) and the problem of nationalism, both as a theoretical challenge to Marxism's capacity for historical explanation and as a practical obstacle to socialist consciousness. Holding Fast to an Image of the Past is a fresh take on the history of Marxism.

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Once of central importance to left historians and activists, recently the concept of the 'bourgeois revolution' has come in for sustained criticism from both Marxists and conservatives. In this abridged edition of How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions?, Neil Davidson expertly distils his theoretical and historical insights about the nature of revolution for general readers. Through research and comprehensive analysis, Davidson demonstrates that what's at stake is far from a stale issue for the history books - understanding struggles of the past offer lessons for today's radicals.

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These essays focus on the two great themes of nation and revolution, and the third which links them: the state. Ranging from the extent to which nationalism can be a component of left-wing politics to the difference between bourgeois and socialist revolutions, the book concludes with an extended discussion of the different meanings history has for conservatives, radicals and Marxists.

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The traditional view of the Scottish nation holds that it first arose during the Wars of Independence from England in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Although Scotland was absorbed into Britain in 1707 with the Treaty of Union, Scottish identity is supposed to have remained alive in the new state through separate institutions of religion (the Church of Scotland), education, and the legal system. Neil Davidson argues otherwise. The Scottish nation did not exist before 1707. The Scottish national consciousness we know today was not preserved by institutions carried over from the pre-Union period, but arose after and as a result of the Union, for only then were the material obstacles to nationhood – most importantly the Highland/Lowland divide – overcome. This Scottish nation was constructed simultaneously with and as part of the British nation, and the eighteenth century Scottish bourgeoisie were at the forefront of constructing both. The majority of Scots entered the Industrial Revolution with a dual national consciousness, but only one nationalism, which was British. The Scottish nationalism which arose in Scotland during the twentieth century is therefore not a revival of a pre-Union nationalism after 300 years, but an entirely new formation. Davidson provides a revisionist history of the origins of Scottish and British national consciousness that sheds light on many of the contemporary debates about nationalism.

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Does Scotland have a problem with racism? With its 'civic nationalism' and 'welcoming' attitude towards migrants and refugees, Scotland is understood to be relatively free of structural and institutional racism. As the contributors to this book show, such generalisations fail to withstand serious investigation. Their research into the historical record and contemporary reality tells a very different story. Opening up debate on a subject that has been shut down for too long,No Problem Here gathers together the views of academics, activists and anti-racism campaigners who argue that it is vital that the issue of racism be brought into the centre of public discourse. Scotland's role in maintaining and extending slavery across the British Empire is finally beginning to receive the attention it deserves. Yet there is much more that needs to be said about racism in Scotland today.

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Since the referendum, Scottish independence has been captured by conservative forces. Scotland After Britain argues for fidelity to the true meaning of the word independence. It should mean not only a break from the failing British state, but also from the prison of free trade and militarism that has delivered successive crises. Most of all, independence must honestly address the huge injustices of income, wealth and power that continue to define Scottish society, by restoring agency to working class communities and voters.Scotland After Britain shines a spotlight on pro-independence politics since Brexit and the pandemic. The Scottish national question has emerged as the biggest fracture in the British state after Brexit. The independence movement emerged from mass public disenchantment at the status quo, yet the SNP continues governing as if that disenchantment never happened, and the party leadership appears increasingly ambivalent about the risks of demanding independence. Most of all, the British state remains hostile to allowing a second referendum, while the SNP leadership has been unwilling to sanction protest beyond the ballot box.Where do we go from here? Scotland After Britain argues Brexit could force the movement to engage in a reckoning with the true stakes of independence, a process that will inevitably require a breach with the SNP's establishment vision.

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This book examines the relationships forged between police officers and the diverse urban and rural communities in which they have lived and worked in Scotland across the twentieth century, demonstrating patterns that were diverse and variegated. It considers both the formal rhetoric (and sets of structures) that defined and prescribed the policing ideal as well as the experience of policing from a range of grassroots' perspectives. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials, oral history interviews, and memoirs, as well as previously unused primary sources, the author identifies and explains the factors that led to not only co-operation, consensus and the building of trust, but also points of tension and conflict across a century of social, political and technological change.

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