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We have chosen 12 topics from Scottish History which we felt were relevant to current struggles in our society. In attempting to collate or create resources on these topics we have encountered the many issues plaguing current research and learning. Much of our history has been neglected, deliberately obscured or silenced. More voices and experiences are missing than not and what little information does exist is often inaccessible in institutions or written in ways most folks can't (or don’t want to) read. We have done what we can to address these imbalances, but like all things it is work in progress!
Our aim is to create learning spaces which reconnect past and present, which foster community, which encourage critical thinking and which enable us to develop collective analysis of how we got here, and what we need to do next. Often political education and historical education is about absorbing facts or memorising dates, a form of learning which is very focussed in the head, and leaves out our emotional experiences . It is our hope that through these popular education spaces, we can collectively develop ways of learning which enable us to process our past, understand and create our present and decide what our future could look like. We believe that this is necessary in order to change ourselves and our society.
If you have any additional suggestions of resources, please email them over to us and we will update them as we go!
We have chosen this topic because within Scotland, and around the world, history is being used as a weapon of war.
2 - Learning History
We have chosen this topic because many people are currently excluded from learning history, including the history of their own communities, because it is researched and taught in universities, museums and archives which they cannot access.
We have chosen this topic because we want people to feel like their own knowledge and experience is valuable, to hear history in their own accent and words and to believe that they can do research.
4 - Language
We have chosen this topic because many people feel alienated from learning, cultural and political spaces because of the way language is used there.
5 - Commons
We have chosen this topic because more and more people feel isolated, lonely and without the things they need to live such as housing, food, warmth and connection.
6 - Care and Community
We chose this topic because many of us lack the care we need and people who provide care are under paid and undervalued.
We chose this topic because there is a housing crisis; there is a shortage of social housing, people who are homeless have to wait a year to be housed, rents have skyrocketed, holiday houses and air B&B’s are forcing up house prices and the fastest growing industry in the UK is Buy-To-Let businesses.
8 - The Clearances
We chose this topic because many people in Scotland and the world are being forced out of their homes and communities due to economic forces and/or violence.
We chose this topic because many people in Scotland and globally live with the impact of colonialism and racism every day.
10 - Class Struggle
We chose this topic because many of us experience bad working conditions, spend most of our time doing things which feel pointless because we have to and cannot afford to live even if we work all the time.
11 - Self-determination
We chose this topic because most people feel like they have less and less agency and resources to solve the problems which impact their communities.
12 - Internationalism
We chose this topic because many people around the world are experiencing violence and displacement.
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