From: "Dave Bedggood" <dr.bedggood-AT-auckland.ac.nz>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 23:03:45 +0000
Subject: Re: M-I: RE: Class consciousness


>James wrote:

> In message <199709070048.MAA15474-AT-mailhost.auckland.ac.nz>, Dave
> Bedggood <dr.bedggood-AT-auckland.ac.nz> writes
> >While the appeal of the "new nationalisms" may  override that 
> >of class at the present, this has always been true of nationalism in Britain. 
> >What a Marxist programme has to do is address the immediate 
> >nationalist forms of working class protest, intervene in it, expose its 
> >limitations, and 
> >steer it towards class independence. We could take up this challenge by 
> >addressing the 
> >upcoming referendums in Scotland and Wales as the LCMRCI has done on this list 
> >recently.
> 
> My problem with this is that I honestly do not believe that Sottish
> people, still less Scottish workers owe any allegiance to Scottish
> nationalism. Scottish regionalism, yes. But nationalism, no. Even such
> suppor there is for regionalism is pretty weak. It comes to the fore
> only as an expression of disenchantment with Westminster. There has
> never been any significant support for national independence in
> Scotland, and the current referendum over devolution is one massive
> yawn. LIke my Grandfather used to say: I'll never vote for those tartan
> tories!
> -- 
> James Heartfield

Thanks for your reply James. Of course the article I posted to MI and 
MG goes into this question in some depth.  You may find the question 
of devolution a massive yawn, and of course your grandfather was 
quite right. However,  not everyone in Scotland had grandfathers, or 
didnt get such good advice,  or maybe failed to take notice. The fact is 
that there will be overwhelming support for  Scottish parliament. 
What do marxist do with that?  Sleep through the sessions? Accept the 
token devolution as if Scotland were a GLC with  little funding and 
no real autonomy? 
The problem is that it is not just the tartan tories who want home 
rule but a sizable chunk of the working class too. Are we to preach 
at them the wisdom of our grandfathers to grow up and get real, or 
do we try to convince them that token home rule will do nothing for their 
problems and win them to a class independent standpoint by 
participating in the devolution?
We don't go round saying that nationalism lives OK and its going to 
solve the workers problems. We say that while nationalism lives we 
have to fight the nationalists on their own turf, not preach from the 
editorial rooms of our respective newspapers.
This is similar to the ravings of the left about Di.  Do we break 
workers from loyalty to royalty by printing bad jokes about Di's 
death, or do we shoulder some of the responsibility for this mass 
hysteria for not having mounted a revolutionary leadership that could 
have given workers a real alternative? 

fraternally Dave.

Dave Bedggood


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