tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post2477861197568572989..comments2024-01-04T19:27:02.335-08:00Comments on Zenpolitics: Greg Philo's false casting of Yes 'nationalism'John Hilleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-65700226644252259732014-05-25T14:28:22.744-07:002014-05-25T14:28:22.744-07:00Chris Bambery making the case for Independence:
h...Chris Bambery making the case for Independence:<br /><br />http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2014/05/22/why-you-should-support-scottish-independence/John Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-79098159407927048472014-05-17T02:14:33.881-07:002014-05-17T02:14:33.881-07:00Hi, thanks for your comment.
While one can always...Hi, thanks for your comment.<br /><br />While one can always invoke national liberation movements, or point to examples where leftist forces were undermined, I don't see it as a particularly helpful exercise in trying to understand this situation.<br /><br /><br />My essential point here is that the case for Scottish independence is not actually being driven by nationalist feeling at all, but by more rooted socio-economic and political concerns about the prevailing arrangement. Much of the Yes movement is identifiably socialist or more widely social democratic in substance, articulating, in essence, a largely left-leaning belief that the breaking of an archaic Union, the creation of a more participatory parliament and greater control over finances/spending can help steer Scotland on a decisively different course to the disastrous neoliberal consensus.<br /><br />The problem with Philo's piece is that it sets up this false 'choice' between nationalism or socialism. Not only is this a deeply reductionist argument, it also plays upon all manner of stereotypical references, equating 'common' racism with a 'dark nationalist' politics. <br /><br />It's a striking paradox that leftists like Philo appear so locked into the same kind of fear narrative as the establishment No. My appeal here is to see the much more nuanced nature of Yes feeling and its socialistic potential beyond claims of a crude nationalism.<br /><br />John <br />John Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-88468996059736474422014-05-16T04:35:34.897-07:002014-05-16T04:35:34.897-07:00John , i have encountered many left nationalists a...John , i have encountered many left nationalists argue that independence will advance the case for socialism but i struggle to find any historical precedents for that claim. On the contrary, it has been the nationalist ideology that has prevailed and the socialist case subsumed. <br /><br />Perhaps you can help me with some examples where nationalism has led to a step forward to socialism and not its retardation. ajohnstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09874891810770297962noreply@blogger.com