Gaelic and Identity: A Response to Iain MacKinnon

IF 0.5 Q4 POLITICAL SCIENCE

Scottish Affairs Pub Date : 2022-02-01 DOI:10.3366/scot.2022.0398

Timothy C. Armstrong, Wilson McLeod, R. Dunbar, Stuart S. Dunmore, Bernadette O’Rourke, Michelle Macleod

引用次数: 1

Abstract

This article responds to the recent special issue of Scottish Affairs on ‘Gàidhealtachd Futures’ and in particular the article by Iain MacKinnon proposing that ancestry, ethnicity and indigeneity should become the principal elements in contemporary Gaelic identity. The editors of the special issue do not give an analytically meaningful presentation of the term Gàidhealtachd and MacKinnon fails to give a complete or balanced account of previous research on the question of Gaelic identity. There is considerable uncertainty about how the term Gael is understood today; many Gaelic speakers are reluctant to accept this label for themselves. MacKinnon's arguments concerning the role of ancestry in defining Gaelic identity are highly problematic in both analytical and political terms. His proposals concerning ethnicity and indigeneity are unsustainable, particularly in light of relevant legal standards, and amount to a strategic, ethical and legal dead end for the Gaelic revitalisation movement.

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盖尔语与身份认同：对Iain MacKinnon的回应

这篇文章回应了《苏格兰事务》最近一期关于“Gàidhealtachd Futures”的特刊，特别是Iain MacKinnon的文章，该文章提出祖先、种族和土著应成为当代盖尔人身份的主要因素。特刊的编辑们没有对Gàidhealtachd一词进行有意义的分析性介绍，MacKinnon也没有对以前关于盖尔人身份问题的研究进行完整或平衡的描述。盖尔语一词在今天的理解存在相当大的不确定性；许多讲盖尔语的人不愿意自己接受这个标签。MacKinnon关于祖先在定义盖尔人身份中的作用的论点在分析和政治方面都存在很大问题。他关于种族和土著性的建议是不可持续的，特别是考虑到相关的法律标准，这对盖尔复兴运动来说是一条战略、道德和法律上的死胡同。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Scottish Affairs POLITICAL SCIENCE-

CiteScore

1.20

自引率

25.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Scottish Affairs, founded in 1992, is the leading forum for debate on Scottish current affairs. Its predecessor was Scottish Government Yearbooks, published by the University of Edinburgh''s ''Unit for the Study of Government in Scotland'' between 1976 and 1992. The movement towards the setting up the Scottish Parliament in the 1990s, and then the debate in and around the Parliament since 1999, brought the need for a new analysis of Scottish politics, policy and society. Scottish Affairs provides that opportunity. Fully peer-reviewed, it publishes articles on matters of concern to people who are interested in the development of Scotland, often setting current affairs in an international or historical context, and in a context of debates about culture and identity. This includes articles about similarly placed small nations and regions throughout Europe and beyond. The articles are authoritative and rigorous without being technical and pedantic. No subject area is excluded, but all articles pay attention to the social and political context of their topics. Thus Scottish Affairs takes up a position between informed journalism and academic analysis, and provides a forum for dialogue between the two. The readers and contributors include journalists, politicians, civil servants, business people, academics, and people in general who take an informed interest in current affairs.