How British is Scotland?

Professor Lynn Abrams, Chair of Modern History at the University of Glasgow, shows how a number of Scottish women of the inter-war period rose from the national arena to take prominent roles in international pacificist movements. By doing so, they transcended national boundaries without expressing discontentment with the British state.

Stephen Driscoll, Professor of Historical Archaeology, and Ewan Campbell, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, from the University of Glasgow explore how the concept of Scottish nationality is applied in the field of archaeology. Professor Driscoll emphasises how difficult it is to ascribe Scottishness to archaeological finds, but notes how they have been packaged as Scottish in modern times. Dr Campbell looks at the varied origin myths of the Scottish nation, noting that identity was fluid in the early medieval period. He also asserts that Scotland was culturally conversant with other parts of Europe in this period, and only peripheral in a strictly geographical sense.

Thomas Clancy, Professor of Celtic at the University of Glasgow, discusses multiculturalism in early medieval Scotland, arguing that Scotland was the one of the most linguistically diverse countries in Europe in this period. He argues that such diversity should be embraced instead of the pursuit of an inflexible ‘essence’ of Scottish or British identity.

Professor Murray Pittock, the Bradley Chair of English Literature at the University of Glasgow, looks at the different possibilities for Scotland’s future and its relationship with the rest of the UK in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum. He argues that there are risks in all scenarios, but that a no vote is the biggest risk of all.