Tom Nairn and Scottish Politics

This article examines a less familiar side of Tom Nairn’s career: his role as a commentator-participant in Scottish politics. It argues that Nairn was not only a radical critic of the UK but also an exponent of feasible strategies to advance Scottish self-government. The article draws on Nairn’s journalistic writings for Scottish political magazines and the Scottish press to show that he combined a maximalist critique of the UK state with a pragmatic orientation to Scottish electoral politics. Nairn abjured the commitment to extra-parliamentary action favoured by his erstwhile colleagues in the metropolitan New Left and instead supported what was, de facto, a constitutionalist popular front strategy for Scotland.