Issues of equality, social justice and social welfare in the imaginings of an independent Scotland.
The imagining of this new Scotland is powerful, and it almost led to victory for the pro-independence movement in 2014. On many levels however, it is problematic, not so much for what it says, but for its absences and omissions. The claim of an essential progressiveness anda uniquely Scottish commitment to fairness and social justice, has understandably been heavily criticised. While much is made of Enlightenment ideas of progress, universality and rationality, in the context of a hugely unequal, polarised and class, gender and ethnically divided Scotland, such ideas will remain simply as rhetoric if these social inequalities are not challenged. However, a debate that is informed by such ideals is surely to be welcomed, given the residualising and punitive approaches to welfare policy making that are to the fore in other parts of the UK.
Journal of Ethics and Social Welfare vol.10(3) pp.239-251