Suchergebnisse

ABSTRACT:This article examines the role played by local councillors in constructing new housing in Scotland during the inter-war period. Rather than view local authorities as simply the objective agency of central government's ambitions to construct council houses, we argue that the self-interest and motivations of councillors have to be recognized as significant factors in this process. It is argued also that the concerns of private landlords were neither ignored nor sacrificed in the rush to build new housing. Rather, given that councils remained dominated by local business men, many of whom were private landlords, councillors acted in ways to protect their own material and class interests. In so doing, they consciously, if implicitly, shaped the social geography of twentieth-century Scotland.

This article aims to examine possible alternatives to the first wave of council-house building in Scotland. Alternative approaches to deal with Scotland's housing problem are considered and the reasons for their failure to compete with council housing are considered. The Burgh of Stirling has been chosen because its politics suggest that it may have been less enthusiastic about building council houses and more amenable to exploring alternative solutions. Three 'alternatives' are discussed. The first was the Homesteads experiment, which, immediately prior to the First World War, successfully built a small number of houses with adjacent land on which the occupants grew food for themselves. The second experiment was a limited project by the Town Council, devised just before 1914, of demolition and widening a single street in the old town, which sought to encourage private companies to build replacement tenements. The third undertaking was the Thistle Trust, which sought to preserve the medieval dwellings huddled around Stirling Castle.

English people are the largest national or ethnic minority within Scotland but remain under-researched. This is despite a view taken by many writers, and by the popular press, that anti-English attitudes within Scotland are a major social problem. Via 30 in-depth interviews, this paper explores the experiences of a group of English people living in Scotland and the extent and nature of any anti-Englishness they have encountered. The paper also focuses on the ways in which notions of race, ethnicity and essential differences between Scots and English people are regularly encountered by English people living in Scotland. The 'racialisation' of the English minority in Scotland is also discussed in this context.

This article explores the experiences of the largest minority group in Scotland: the English-born. To date the English in Scotland are a relatively under researched group. Our research indicates that a key experience for many English people in Scotland is that of a constant reminder of difference. This can make questions of 'belonging' problematic. Constructions of 'Englishness', via often routine and mundane interactions with Scottish people, were often foisted upon those perceived to be English. This has implications for how we understand 'Englishness' and 'Scottishness' and the development of national identities more generally; particularly for minority groups. The article also argues that for many Scots 'the English' continue to be the key 'other' that helps to define what it is to be 'Scottish'.

Some 30 years after Glasgow turned towards regeneration, indicators of its built environment, its health, its economic performance and its quality of life remain below UK averages. This interdisciplinary study examines the ongoing transformation of Glasgow as it transitioned from a de-industrial to a post-industrial city during the 20th and 21st centuries. Looking at the diverse issues of urban policy, regeneration and economic and social change, it considers the evolving lived experiences of Glaswegians. Contributors explore the actions required to secure the gains of regeneration and create an economically competitive, socially just and sustainable city, establishing a theory that moves beyond post-industrialism and serves as a model for similar cities globally