THE THEORETICAL CASE FOR SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE

By Professor Alf Baird

Back in the Summer of 2021, Yours for Scotland published ten articles serialising Alf Baird’s book ‘Doun-Hauden: The Socio-Political Determinants of Scottish Independence’, available from Amazon. These articles were a big hit because they helped explain what independence means and in a way that had never been done before. Readers at the time called for a small booklet of this information to be published and made more widely available. The intention was that people might then better understand why independence is not just something nice to have, but actually essential for the long-term development and survival of the Scottish people and nation. I am happy to say that we can now access this booklet which may be downloaded on the Salvo website here.

Until now the ‘case’ made for Scottish independence has tended to focus on perceived social and economic advantages, the ‘democratic deficit’ and the benefits from a shift towards national self-government. More recently we have been presenting the critical constitutional case through Sara Salyers work, with Salvo and Liberation.scot, and through the Scottish National Congress initiative. This new booklet by Alf Baird supports and adds to that ongoing work by outlining, for the first time, and in a succinct manner ‘The Theoretical Case for Scottish Independence’. It summarises the results of his extensive in-depth research analysis by presenting the only comprehensive theoretical and analytical framework developed on the subject of Scottish independence.

The aim of the booklet is to provide for improved understanding about what independence really means and why it is essential. The booklet has an initial print run with costs supported by Scottish Independence Foundation which will be distributed to pro-independence groups, but please share it widely and print and distribute more copies as required. Below are two helpful reviews of the booklet written by leading independence campaigners Maggie Chetty and Ian Grant. Thanks are also due to Ken McDonald at iScot magazine for his help.

Iain Lawson

Review by Maggie Chetty

The independence movement in Scotland owes a debt to Professor Alf Baird who has emerged as a teacher and friend to us at this stage in our struggle. He has mapped out for us the nature of our social, cultural, linguistic and political oppression and the ways in which Scottish society has been deformed and mis-shapen by this. Alf’s prodigious research skills have been put to the best possible use in outlining the process and detail of our oppression. 

For many Scots, the idea that we have been colonised, is quickly dismissed because we have been fed the myth that we ‘benefitted from the spoils of Empire’ and indeed were ‘willing participants’. A closer examination of the lives of Scottish working people over many centuries reveals a constant struggle against hardship. The military mystique of ‘the Scottish soldier’ often derived from poverty or threats to small farmers that they would lose their tenancy if they did not provide a son for the Army. 

The question is always who drove the process and who had to take part. The long history of English ruling class efforts to dominate Scotland from medieval times onwards has had a ‘normalising effect’ so that it is not viewed as a continuing and deep-rooted form of oppression. Alf has drawn our attention to the enormous loss of Scottish men and women, our greatest wealth, through the Clearances, persecution, colonial population schemes and lack of opportunity. This has created a belief that the only way to ‘get on’ is to leave Scotland. 

The lack of opportunity is well explained in terms of the domination of the Anglophone settler culture and the exclusion of Scots born working people who should be building a prosperous and dynamic Scottish society. Of course, we have many examples of Scots who enriched and influenced other societies and cultures through choosing to leave Scotland and travel. But the population loss and patterns of migration that we have also seen in the past in Ireland should not be internalised as normal. Successful independent countries are able to retain their young people and build for the future. 

Professor Alf Baird’s explanation of the colonial structures that underpin our losses is very enlightening. This wonderful booklet should be used to energise us and educate ourselves for the liberation struggle ahead. A visit to Alf’s book Doun-Hauden is also highly recommended.

Review by Dr. Ian Grant

Those of us who believe in the cause of Scottish Independence do so for a number of reasons. However, underlying our beliefs is a feeling of Scottishness, and an identification with our history, our language and culture, and our landscape. This is coupled with a sense of powerlessness, even with a devolved parliament, because the key decisions on our present and future are made either in London or in Scotland by people who have no feeling for our country. Yet when we assert our belief in Scottish independence, our feelings and desire for independence are challenged variously as selfish, insular, nationalistic (in a pejorative sense) and even racist. 

Professor Alf Baird has systematically and forensically examined all the factors surrounding Scottish independence, and has identified the key issues of cultural and language suppression, and what is effectively colonial domination by an English orientated ruling class. By doing so, he has struck a chord with many of us who were wrestling with our feelings on Scottish independence, and with our discomfort around the position of Scotland in the Union. He has explained the colonial status of Scotland within the U.K., which many of us had instinctively denied, how that has shaped our present country, and how if unchecked it will lead to our cultural extinction as a distinct country and people. 

This booklet, coupled with Professor Baird’s earlier and more comprehensive book, Doun Hauden, provides an academic underpinning for the case for Scottish independence.

MY COMMENTS

Once again Alf produces a valuable resource that adds and widens our knowledge of how we, every day, experience colonial control over our lives. It permeates every aspect of life in our schools, our institutions, in our Government. It is often disguised but increasingly it has become more obvious. We are at a crossroads and here is Alf with the roadmap to Independence. It seems badly needed at this time where the candidates in the SNP LEADERSHIP race seem very weak and confused on the subject. Download it from the Salvo site, using the link above. For a better, fairer and more confident Scotland.

I am, as always

YOURS FOR SCOTLAND

Iain Lawson