“A new Act of Union… would not only curtail the future of Scottish democracy, but would dismantle Scottish democracy as it currently exists.”
Catalonia
“A more honest and complete appraisal of Francoism might have to confront the fact that its legacy endures in more forms than street names and antiquated legislation.”
Sean Bell: Spain’s battle to remember shows us history must be fought for
“Taking swipes at democratic social movements, like the one in Catalonia, or Syriza’s drive to resist EU-backed austerity measures, are some of the only decisive action ever taken by the European Parliament.”
David Jamieson: The EU is helping Spain crush democracy in Catalonia
“The Catalans have been both talking and acting, with mixed and confusing results. But even their confusions are more fruitful than baseless certainties, and unexamined problems.”
Analysis: The ‘western independistas’ are yet to win their battles, but the Catalans are trying
Catalonia’s election – and ours in May – could begin a new conversation. For decades, Western states have suffered from democratic malaise (Britain is merely an extreme case). . Challenges for popular control of state power thus assume critical importance.
Source Direct: Catalonia Dreaming
No deus ex machina is coming to rescue the independence movement. We’re on our own. Thankfully, our movement represents an entire cast of actors waiting backstage for their cue. Perhaps now it may finally come.
Robin McAlpine: The divide over independence strategy is artificial – here’s how to get rid of it
“This is not a game of who blinks first; it’s the reality of losing the moral high ground in any dispute in which you have to resort to shouting instead of well-reasoned arguments.”
The Pressure series: What the independence movement can learn from the history of nonviolent activism
“Opposition to the legalist strategy is not an endorsement of a lawless state, but merely an assertion that to submit to the logic of British law now is to lend it credibility when it is inevitably weaponised”
Séamus McGuigan: Independence and the legalism trap
“Like the Catalan movement, Scots may face an allied UK and European apparatus increasingly disrespectful of democracy and focused on the interests of the already institutionally dominant.”
Analysis: Repression in Catalonia is a Spanish tradition – but it has lessons for us as well
Who would be a Catalan President? Or at least, a pro-independence Catalan President? Look through the list of those who have served as president of Catalonia before and after the period of dictatorship under General Franco and you will find that just one served out their term in office, the rest were forced out by […]