Another article from retired University Lecturer Alasdair Galloway who lives in Dumbarton
I have often been critical of many of Mr Bell’s writing, but I found the above – and I should take this opportunity to thank Iain for putting this up on “Yours for Scotland” – particularly interesting because at about the same time, from a different direction and using different concepts, I too found a good deal of agreement with Alf Baird’s argument about Scotland as a colony.
I also need to own up to a large degree of embarrassment as my Phd, written about 40 years ago, made considerable use of theories concerning “the Colonisation of the Lifeworld”.
The Lifeworld is closely associated with the work of the Dutch philosopher Alfred Schutz which, as he understood it, was constituted by inter-subjectivity or “person to person social interaction, in our day to day experience as human beings with others connected by actions, influences, ideas, etc., in the course of understanding and being understood by others, in mutual attempts in making sense of the world and others”.
In other words, and put very simply, the Lifeworld is the intersubjective basis of our understanding of what is going on. As Schutz writes “I assume that all that makes sense to me makes sense to all those with whom I share the life-world. My actions make sense, and I suppose that others are interpreting them meaningfully as well, and I make sense of what others do too. In these reciprocal acts of giving and positing meaning to yourself and others, inter-subjective social life is built. It is also the social life of others.”
Importantly, in this formulation analysis is mainly descriptive. However, this was addressed by Jurgen Habermas in 1982 in his magnum opus, the two volume “Theory of Communicative Action”. The starting point of his view of the Lifeworld in truth differs little from that of Schutz, considering it to be how collectively and inter-subjectively we understand nature, society, and even ourselves, which we achieve from our communication with each other.
However, as capitalism develops in more complex ways, there is a transfer of action co-ordination from the process described by Schutz, based on ‘language’ or dialogue between social actors, over to ‘steering media’, such as money and power, which bypass consensus-oriented communication with a ‘symbolic generalisation of rewards and punishments’. When this happens the lifeworld “is no longer needed for the coordination of action”. It has been colonized by the social system and the steering media of money and power, so consensus is no longer necessary for social action to take place. Colonization takes on the role, aided by mass media.
Lifeworlds become colonised by steering media when four things happen:
- Traditional forms of life are dismantled.
- Social roles are sufficiently differentiated, through for instance the division of labour.
- There are adequate rewards of leisure and money for the alienated labour.
- Hopes and dreams become individuated by state canalization of welfare and culture.
Habermas’s interest is in wider social interaction. My own was in the world of work. There is very little about his work on independence movements specifically. However, as we’ll set out in what follows it does have considerable insights.
There are, as I have already said, several points where Mr Bell and I agree with each other about colonization. For instance, like him I am uncomfortable with certain aspects of Alf Baird’s views. For instance I too find his views about “settlers” damaging to support for independence. How do you square the “better, fairer Scotland”, with what can be (and will be, I am pretty sure) be portrayed as racist, however unfairly.
Likewise, references to Fanon’s “The Wretched of the Earth”. I can understand the parallels, but to equate contemporary Scotland with Africa during its struggle for independence from the colonial powers such as the UK, Belgium and France is inappropriate. The scale of resistance of the colonial powers to the latter is of a totally different scale and type to their resistance to the former.
As Peter Bell writes himself (discussing Liberation), “Even if there is a sense in which people in Scotland are placed in a sort of captivity by the Union, nobody in Scotland feels confined or constrained in a way that would commonly be associated with oppression. They sure as hell don’t feel enslaved!”. Someone in Angola very often would, or worse!
However, Mr Bell takes a wrong turning when he writes “My attitude to the term ‘liberation’. changed dramatically as I came to recognise that it was not the people per se who were the captives of colonisation but Scotland’s political and cultural institutions. It is our government and our parliament and our civil service and our language and our media and our history which have been captured in a process of surreptitious colonisation over a period of three centuries and more”.
What is crucial is the liberation of the mind of the Scottish electorate so that they can develop a full understanding of the position of their country within the United Kingdom. Were that so, how long would the colonized institutional structure last? Without wishing to understate their significance, institutions are no more than the means to an end, however crucial that end (purpose) might be.
My own view is, as Iain writes, “true success in politics is changing minds, not easy, but possible and very welcome. Salvo/ Liberation have changed a lot of minds in the last year and even more importantly opened a lot of minds”.
The shortcoming of this is that even if Salvo/ Liberation is right (and I’m not unhappy to accept that they are), my problem remains with how this can be enforced. It is, in the widest sense of the law, an uncommon event, but occasionally even if a case is well founded the judgement just cannot be enforced. My fear is that with regard to independence, we may be able to say the same thing about Salvo’s case – legally sound, but incapable of enforcement. The Chagos Islands are a sobering lesson in this as Mauritius has any number of judgements against the UK in almost every international court you want to name and yet it has made no difference. Indeed the UK sometimes barely conceals its contempt for these judgements.
This is not say the Salvo route is of no value. It is. For instance, it’s easy to adopt the position of the UK with regard to the Chagos Islands with the Americans behind you (they wanted one of the islands as an Indian Ocean airbase). Compare that to the Good Friday Agreement. Does anyone believe that this was a matter of the UK changing its policy with regard to Northern Ireland, or that Bill Clinton understood how this would play with the Irish community in the States and applied the necessary pressure on Westminster? It’s for this reason that seeking international awareness and support are necessary, though like Salvo probably not sufficient. International support will make life difficult for Westminster, particularly after Brexit. A well-conceived legal argument will help in this process.
Add to this, a campaign of civil disobedience to make administering Scotland at least very difficult (think poll tax on steroids) might also help change minds in Westminster about how much hanging on to Scotland is worth when they’re getting a hard time legally, in the international community and at home as well.
My own view is that there is no single approach to achieving independence. Pointing this out does not necessarily imply disagreement, but just recognition that other approaches are necessary as well, none of which on their own will be sufficient.
MY COMMENTS
This is another article that demonstrates I am willing to publish articles where I am not wholly supportive of the arguments made. I believe however that all serious viewpoints deserve a platform and of course there are equally many viewpoints in this article with which I agree. Alasdair initially lived in Clydebank and we attended the same school for a number of years but then lost touch until about five years ago. I have already forwarded his article to another friend Professor Alf Baird so I am hopeful he will send me his response which I will of course publish.
I am, as always
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YOURS FOR SCOTLAND 
Ancient wisdom is in the parables
“A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: “We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable”. So, they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it. The first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said, “This being is like a thick snake”. For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan. As for another person, whose hand was upon its leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk. The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant, “is a wall”. Another who felt its tail, described it as a rope. The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.”
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I forgot to add….all are right, yet all are wrong. If they had worked together they could have built a true picture.
Independence was once a clear picture. Now it is various descriptions by blind men.
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Just nonsense. what colour would their animal be?
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Never heard that parable before. Are you saying we Scots cannot hear see or smell.
What is your point?
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I don’t suppose you have heard of the Gordian Knot either…..?
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NEVER ASSUME Clootie. IT makes an ass of u and me.
Independence is not an insoluble problem.
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Obviously jistjr is not aware of the Gordian knot. It is that a simple solution is there if you can see it. It is only a challenge or “insoluble”to those who focus on minor problems and fail to step back.
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Get back in yer box you fool. I know the sword was the solution. How dare you make comments about my or anyone elses knowledge.
Time you haud yer Wheesht. or git back tae unpicking the knot.
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Talking philosophy, I am glad to be introduced to the work of Schutz, but I would also want to see the work of John Macmurray acknowledged. He was a Scottish philosopher of roughly the same era as Schutz, neglected by his peers and successors because of his focus on ‘persons in relation.’ He was clear that democracy was the necessary outcome of the Christian Gospels, grossly corrupted and distorted by institutional religion over time, and claimed that we can rely on our interpersonal bonds to make a better world. The nature of those bonds is powerfully and invisibly shaped by our personal, social and cultural history and by our material context as part and parcel of the ‘natural world’.
We now see that religion has always been a human creation, rather than proof of the divine, and that we ourselves must set about growing and developing democracy as a way of ‘saving’ ourselves, our ‘communities’ (including our nations) and the planet. So bring on self-determination for Scotland’s people – a necessary first step.
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That’s an interesting thought, but would be hard to accomplish. The foundations of Schutz’s work are such as Bergson and Husserl, and philsophy of consciousness and intersubectivity. In contrast Macmurray is concerned with the philosophy of what it means to be a person, so much more individual.
The significance of colonization of the Lifeworld is at one level individual – its about decolonizing you and me. But it’s also about intersubjectivity, so decolonization has to be a collective effort. A few decolonized islands in a sea of colonized thinking is better than nothing, but ultimately it’s about scale.
A simple practical example. If you are one of a group of 10 then in 2012, if the stat that at that point 28% supported independence – lets call it 30% to make the sums easier. Assuming the stats are right, you and two others will support independence. So, if you speak to someone at random in the group, the chances that person will support independence are only 3 in 10.
But of course that number has gone up since then, even as far as almost 60%. If support was at that level the chances of speaking with an independence supporter would be better than evens, which is important for intersubjectivity and development of support.
So, while we need to focus on individuals, and decolonizing their minds, the collective outcome is no less important as the more individuals making the journey from No to Yes who have their support for independence confirmed in their social dialogue, the bettr.
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Human beings are all by and large maleable and impresionable. That should go without saying. Maybe the phrase about the herd mentality is relevant.
Those who have power, control the media, influence education very much control the mass perception. Maybe the old saying that perception is reality is true.
It should therefore come as no surprise that especially so people in colonised countries all to oft see themselves as too poor, too dependent, and or too reliant on their colonial masters. History as they say is written in the tongue of the Victor’s and he who controls the present controls the future.
All of these saws are to varying extents true. And so it is so very much with the progress towards independence.
We are doom haudin or is it doon haudin as someone said and shedding light, spreading education on our rights and how we could be is am absolute key to our securing independence.
The importance of winning hearts and minds as the military strategist Brig General Sir Frank Kitson promoted against many independence campaigns from Kenya to Northern Ireland was very real and reinforces the importance placed on influencing public perception.
An interesting take by Alistair but if we keep our eye on the prize, create the widest possible perception of how thst prize can be delivered then we win.
Colonisation can and had been ended. Might not be easy but look at Bharat now landing spacecraft on the Moon. That’s something their ex colonial masters cannot do.
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My thoughts concur with those of Alastair.
Sara et al at Salvo are to be applauded for their diligence and hard work, but I believe realpolitik determines that their contribution will be of educational and campaigning value. This in itself is gold in the bank ‘till a political figure with resolve and resolute determination comes to the fore (or perhaps returns to the fore?).
Returning to realpolitik, Alastair’s observations regards the poodle status of the UK in relation to the USA are particularly pertinent in the present.
We already have a position where our First Minister, a Cabinet Minister and a junior Minister are alumni of the US State Department’s, International Visitors Leadership Program.
This week, we learned that Kate Forbes MSP is to attend the 2023, British American Project, Conference in Liverpool. The BAP is widely seen as a CIA front (although State Dept may be nearer the mark). This event running Thursday 9th to Monday 13th November (inclusive), takes place while Holyrood is in session. Cambridge educated Forbes is not capable of attending an Indy march (when she promised to do so) but can clear her diary for this!
My speculative interpretation here would be that although Foggy Bottom would prefer to prevent the breakup of the UK, they are willing to entertain an insurance policy.
What would this mean?
* Full NATO membership
* Trident on the Clyde
* rUK military forces having continued access to Scottish training grounds
* Full-throated support for all State Dept geopolitical positions
Not so much the loyal poodle as the pliant Scottie dug.
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‘My fear is that with regard to independence, we may be able to say the same thing about Salvo’s case – legally sound, but incapable of enforcement. ‘ Oh really? What other plans do we need?
Imagine Bruce looking down on the English army at Bannockburn. He was no doubt advised that: ‘It is crazy to take on the more powerful English army. It is legal to defend one’s country but the victory is not enforceable. Let the Bannock Burn flow for a few more years. Go home and study for a PH.D and new ways of thinking…’
The SNP are in a tailspin and soon will be a failed rump of a failed Party. We will not achieve independence through Holyrood and certainly not through Westminster. We are not oppressed enough yet to riot – only a quarter of our children living in poverty and the growing number of food banks are just about coping. The NHS is still struggling to cope with growing waiting lists – wait until it collapses completely before we take to the streets.
So do we wait until some brainy thinker comes up with ‘other approaches’ to supplement Salvo’s? Or do we wait for another Bruce to appear among us to take the bold step? Answers on a postcard.
Why is Scotland so uniquely unable to be its own country? We are good at finding reasons why we can’t: Now is not the time; we need a Section 30 approval; we need a sustained majority over 60%, we need our heads examined. How about Salvo declaring independence and all those that desire independence can rally around as they now have nowhere else to go.
Oh, goannae no dae that – it would frighten the horses and is not intellectual enough. Put yon thinking cap back on for another few years.
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There are examples in history of the ‘People’ becoming the ‘Enforcers’
Neither Sturgeon nor Salmond will go down in history for their negotiating skills.
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” For instance I too find his views about “settlers” damaging to support for independence. How do you square the “better, fairer Scotland”, with what can be (and will be, I am pretty sure) be portrayed as racist, however unfairly. ”
Excellent article and thanks for posting it.
However on the above, in the 2014 indyref 72.1% of folk from the rest of the UK predominately England voted no to Scottish independence, that was back when their was around 500,000 English folk living in Scotland, I’m pretty sure that number has greatly increased since then.
It may surprise you but the Welsh people actually voted against Brexit, but settlers votes swung the result, the Welsh greatly benefited from EU grants and subsidies now gone.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/22/english-people-wales-brexit-research
In my opinion settlers (depending on a set time of residency in Scotland) should not be allowed to vote on constitutional matters such as dissolving the union, other countries do this so why not Scotland.
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The first tranche of data from latest ScotGov census will be released next Thursday. What will it contain?
Number of folk born in rUK resident in Scotland?
Number of folk who have fallen victim to social contagion of Poststructuralist, later day St. Vitus’ dance, gender mania?
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Here’s the link to the release schedule: https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/about/2022-census/census-outputs-schedule/
I can’t see anything specific on splitting the population by place/country of birth. However there is this:
“Origin-destination data – statistics describing the movement of people, including migration and travel to work or study” ….
… to be released in 2025!
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We are who we see ourselves to be in the mirror held up to us by others. Is that not, essentially, what Adam Smith was arguing in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, way back in 1759? But then all that propaganda about the primacy-of-the-individual never has sat well with me.
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Nor me likewise.
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The key sentence is the very last one. There is no silver bullet. No one approach will deliver independence of its own accord. The good thing about the post itself and the btl comments was a recognition of this fact. Recent history demonstrates the folly of attempting to follow a single (blocked as it happens) path, when you reach the dead end, you have nowhere left to go. Let’s not get obsessively dedicated to any single “true path” , lets progress along a broad front and recognise the value of all potential routes.
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Theories, opinions and lived experience – different aspects of the same problem – all play a part in driving change. On the question ‘is Scotland colonised’ each country’s situation is different. Definitions and comparisons can bring clarity and fuel debate. The lack of autonomy to change systems that don’t work for the majority of people is a problem from any perspective. Salvo/Liberation Scotland bring a fresh approach to solving that problem. Every opportunity to reflect, debate and move towards resolution is welcome. Thanks for posting.
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Is popular opinion in England so impervious to change as far as Scottish Independence is perceived?
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Those who claim settlers rights should be respected especially regarding the current open to all voting franchise only wish to maintain the veto on our democracy. This is the default switch to save the Union. It is not democracy it is is naked Manipulateltive colonialism. Machiavevellian control of a chained population coerced in a unwanted Union.
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Those of us over 65 and retired could be a Scots speaking resource. Email and the internet
should make a network of Cultural Action possible? SOME of todays retirees should have
the money and the time… Sara, could you progress aged adult learners in Scots?
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