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The Complete Scottish Sketches of R. B. Cunninghame Graham
Read more: The Complete Scottish Sketches of R. B. Cunninghame GrahamCunninghame Graham's great-grandnephew reveals his favourite sketch of the celebrated Scottish writer
Introducing The Great Seljuk Empire
The collapse of the Ottoman empire in the wake of the First World War a century ago did not merely redraw the political map of the Middle East in its modern form – itself so hotly contested today by forces…
Descartes in Scotland and pre-Enlightenment Scottish philosophy
By Giovanni Gellera Until recently, the question ‘What was philosophy like in Scotland before the Enlightenment?’ met a standard answer reminiscent of the famous Augustinian warning to those who dared to ask what was there before the beginning of time:…
Contemporary Muslims and the Challenge of Modernity(ies)
So when will Islam undergo a reformation? When will Muslims catch up with modernity and join the 21st century? Why is Islam such a violent religion (while others are supposedly so peaceful)? Why are Muslim women so oppressed? When will…
Gender as trans-formation
By Jenny Sundén A moment in time that Time Magazine has termed “the transgender tipping point” – showcasing transgender celebrities at the frontier of transgender rights – might be good for thinking carefully, and creatively, about gender. Are you male or…
Multiculturalism Isn’t a Dirty Word
David Cameron has been avoiding the m-word. In his recent speech about extremism, the word ‘multicultural’ was noticeable by its omission for two reasons. First, Cameron said that Britain was a ‘successful multiracial and multi-faith democracy’ and a term like…
Cinema – An Extract from The Badiou Dictionary
Badiou's interventions on cinema are scattered over a large time span, dispersed in myriad film reviews, short articles and conferences, and for the main part are devoted to discussing one or several individual films, as evidenced by his recently published collection, Cinema.
Finding offence
How are we to assess the impact of activities (e.g. words, songs or gestures) associated with sectarianism in contemporary Scotland? In the increasing absence of easily attributable effects such as crimes or disorder, or blatant forms of discrimination in the…
Community Experiences of Sectarianism
In the August 2015 issue of Scottish Affairs, a team of researchers explore the findings of a study they carried out for the Scottish government on community experiences of sectarianism. Here, one of the authors, Kay Goodall, sets out some…
The New Islamic Presence in Europe: Perspectives from Ireland
Western Europe experienced the immigration of people from a Muslim background after World War II who settled in countries like France, Britain or Germany to fill the labour shortage and made important contributions to the economic recovery of Western European…