[page 16]
Our Changing Scotland: A yearbook of Scottish polities 1976-77, M.G. Clarke. and H.M. Drucker (Eds), EUSPB £1.75.
In recent years, universities have set about competing with each other for sponsorship as they turn increasingly to industry for finance. One product of this is the grandly titled Unit for the Study of Government in Scotland at Edinb ugh University which was rather hurriedly assembled earlier this year to attract such sponsorship. Its first product, titled, rather in the style of a junior grade school text book, Our Changing Scotland reflects this hurry and reads like 3 straight selfjustification and self-advertisement for the unit's existence.
This new book in fact, little more than a compilation of various articles reprinted from The Scotsman, Question and the Times Educational Supplement sandwiched between an introduction and a long section bibliography other reference material. Such articles are, by their very nature, limited as to what they can cover. I am, however, baffled that the editors chose to devote so much space to reprinting a debate over the role of separate catholic schools. What-
ever the importance of this issue, it hardly seems to justify the prominence In view of the absence of either socialist editors or contributors, it is hardly surprising that the volume is almost useless to activists. John Firn's article on unemployment and Scottish economy fails to provide even the most elementary facts for trade militants, let alone anything more. What is surprising is the range and importance of topics completely omitted. The introduction only briefly mentions the convulsions inside the Party over the national question and no space is given to the birth of the SLP or the debates of the SNP.
All in all the book serves little rationale except as a justification for the existence of a university department. Even the bibliography has been from obvious sources which been given virtually no critical assessment; consequently it contains useless material and ecludes many valuable contributions. It can in no way stand comparison with other of the EUSPB's usually admirable output like the Red Papers on Scotland which, despite all its shortcomings, set out to make itself part of a debate right in the mainstream of Scottish political life rather than sitting on the academic sidelines waiting for the money to roll in.