This is slightly tangential to play-ethical matters, but I'm speaking today at a conference in Edinburgh organised by the pro-Scottish independence magazine and blog Bella Caledonia, titled 'Building a Movement for Yes!' (meaning, a 'Yes' vote in any future referendum on independence).
My topic is 'The Democratic Interact: the challenges of social media to Scottish self-determination' - and it'll be based on, and extend upon, a paper I presented (PDF download) to the Scottish Broadcasting Commission about 18 months ago (a little dated and statist now, I think). I've always been on the constitutional left in Scottish politics, and it's interesting to bring my interest in the playful, creative powers of the internet to what is rapidly becoming a transformative moment in the political life of the UK (or what comes after the Kingdom disunites!).
The organiser, Mike Small, has reminded me of Tom Nairn - the titan of thinking about nationalism as a phenomenon of modernity, and latterly globalisation - and his brilliant, challenging essay on Hardt and Negri's Multitude in the London Review of Books. Nairn's Scottish-constitutional critique of H&N may help relate some Play Ethic readers to the nature of the left-nationalist debate in Scotland.
I'll pull together some of my speaking notes from the day and post here later.
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