Independence

A fork in the road

Author / Creator: Stephen Noon

Media type: Discussion Paper

Date published: 2022

How Scotland becomes independent ​following a Yes vote is an important part of how we would be independent, especially in the first years.


Bella Caledonia: An Anthology of Writing from 2007 – 2021

Author / Creator: Bella Caledonia

Media type: Book

Date published: 2022

This is a book celebrating fourteen years of publishing and collaborations. We have taken the idea of ‘self-determination’ and began to ask what would that mean for us as individuals, communities, towns and cities, not just as a nation? We have taken the idea that we have been living through a mistake in our timeline. In Scotland we thought we needed a parliament, then realised it’s actually a democracy we need. Our question is: what does that democracy look like and how can we create it, now?


Scotland After Britain: The Two Souls of Scottish Independence

Author / Creator: James Foley

Media type: Book

Date published: 2022

Since the referendum, Scottish independence has been captured by conservative forces. Scotland After Britain argues for fidelity to the true meaning of the word independence. It should mean not only a break from the failing British state, but also from the prison of free trade and militarism that has delivered successive crises.


Independence in the modern world. Wealthier, happier, fairer: why not Scotland?

Author / Creator: Scottish Government

Media type: Book

Date published: 2022

Small independent countries are performing better on many measures than larger ones. Why not Scotland?


I Want to Break Free: A Practical Guide to Making a New Country

Author / Creator: Matt Qvortrup

Media type: Book

Date published: 2022

Are you fed up with the divided and unequal society or suffocating laws and regulations of the country where you live? Ever dreamed of starting your own country or just want to understand how that happens?


Scotland's Decision; 16 questions to think about for the referendum on 18 September [2014]

Author / Creator: Charlie Jeffrey

Date published: 2014

A key document outlining the issues for the Scottish electorate from the Independence view.


Scottish Independence and Scotland's Future

Author / Creator: Alastair McIntyre

Media type: Website

Date published:

Documentation of the events prior to, and leading up to, the 2014 Independence referendum.


The Independence of Scotland: Self-Government and the Shifting Politics of Union

Author / Creator: Michael Keating

Media type: Book

Date published: 2009

What this book brings out in an exceptionally lucid fashion, is that the Anglo-Scottish union derives much of its strength from its inherent flexibility. Keating encourages us to think about the extent to which its latest ‘crisis’ can be accommodated by this suppleness or whether constant flexing will result in a stress fracture


Scotland: A Nation-State in Waiting

Author / Creator: Robert Wirth

Media type: Article

Date published: 2019

The stateless nation of Scotland appears to be arrested in a peculiar, liminal ‘in-between time’.


Why Quebec’s independence dream went wrong – lessons for Scotland

Author / Creator: Believe in Scotland

Media type: Article

Date published: 2022

 "Three reasons why Quebec independence support fell away and why those circumstances differ from the Scottish independence movement. 

1 Quebec’s independence movement is primarily associated with a white ethnic identity.

2 Canada responded effectively to Quebec’s desire for more autonomy – eventually

3 A focus on the past"


Why Norway Chose to Become an Independent Country – Lessons for Independent Scotland

Author / Creator: Believe in Scotland

Media type: Article

Date published: 2022

Norway has only been an independent country since 1905 –  for 500 years before that it was not. First it was in a union with Denmark and then with Sweden. In both cases Norway was the junior partner. 


Too wee, too poor for independence? Malta didn’t think so – lessons for Scotland

Author / Creator: Believe in Scotland

Media type: Article

Date published: 2022

Malta is a successful small independent country, the smallest in the EU. But when it sought its independence from Britain, it was told it was too wee and too poor to make a go of it.


Scottish Nationalism: History, Ideology and the Question of Independence

Author / Creator: Richard Finlay

Media type: Book

Date published: 2022

"SUPPORT for the Union in England can no longer be taken for granted and anti-independence messages around Scotland being “heavily subsidised” could backfire" The National


The Flag in the Wind: The Story of the National Movement in Scotland

Author / Creator: John M. MacCormick

Media type: Book

Date published: 1955

A classic narrative of early 20th century Scottish nationalism.


The Changing Role of Identity and Values in Scotland’s Politics

Author / Creator: Alex Scholes

Media type: Research Paper

Date published: 2021

Support for Scottish independence has become more entwined with a strong sense of Scottish identity, and with a more liberal outlook


Scotland: The New State of an Old Nation

Author / Creator: Murray Stewart Leith

Media type: Book

Date published: 2020

The country has transformed from the socially and politically conservative climate..to a nation contemplating a move to independence to achieve democracy and democratic legitimacy


Not up to the courts

Author / Creator: Ciaran Martin

Media type: Article

Date published:

It is unrealistic to think that Scotland will leave the Union without the consent of Westminster. This makes the key question a political one, which the courts cannot resolve.


Would Scots vote for indy? What’s the question…!

Author / Creator: Rob Ford

Media type: Article

Date published:

The form of the question on a referendum would make a difference in results.


Time for the SNP to get serious

Author / Creator: James Mitchell

Media type: Article

Date published:

“The issues are whether and how an independent Scotland would make the transition, at what cost, paid for by whom, over how long and, crucially, what policies would be needed to get to a position where people are at least no worse off.  These are not insurmountable but they are challenging.”


The State of Scotland

Author / Creator: Neal Ascherson

Media type: Book

Date published: 2020

There can be no going back from devolution. But going forward from it could make the United Kingdom unrecognizable and project the old ‘British’ nations into a more modern and flexible relationship.