Front cover:
Arts of Independence
The cultural argument and why it matters most
by Alexander Moffat and Alan Riach
There is only one argument for Scottish independence: the cultural argument. It was there long before North Sea oil had been discovered, and it will be here long after the oil has run out.
How have perceptions of Scottish culture been shaped by its role within Britain?
What would be different about culture in an independent Scotland?
Why is culture the key to the independence debate?
ALEXANDER MOFFAT and ALAN RIACH take a hard look at the most neglected aspect of the argument for Scotland’s distinctive national identity: the arts. Their proposition is that music, painting, architecture and pre-eminently, literature, are the fuel and fire that makes imagination possible. Neglect them at your peril.