Angela Bartie

Moral Panics and Glasgow Gangs: Exploring ‘the New Wave of Glasgow Hooliganism’, 1965–1970

Between 1965 and 1968, gangs ‘reappeared’ in Glasgow. Perceived as younger, more violent and more dangerous to the public than their interwar predecessors, concern quickly grew in the media, police force, local and national government and the public domain more generally. This article uses the sociological concept of ‘moral panics’ to explore ‘the New Wave of Glasgow Hooliganism’. It demonstrates the social construction of ‘deviance’ in practice, placing escalating concerns and debates over solutions to ‘the gang problem’ in the wider context of fears about increasing levels of youth violence in the 1960s Britain. In Glasgow, popular perceptions and ‘folk-lore’ about gangs affected opinions and responses, and often conflicted with empirical evidence conducted at the time.

The Edinburgh Festivals : Culture and Society in Post-war Britain

The Edinburgh Festival is the world’s largest arts festival. It has also been the site of numerous ‘culture wars’ since it began in 1947. Key debates that took place across the western world about the place of culture in society, the practice and significance of the arts, censorship, the role of organised religion, and meanings of morality were all reflected in contest over culture in the Festival City. The Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama sought to use culture to bolster European civilisation, for which it was considered for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. The Church saw culture as a ‘weapon of enlightenment’, the labour movement as a ‘weapon in the struggle’, and the new generation of artistic entrepreneurs who came to the fore in the 1960s as a means of challenge and provocation, resulting in high profile controversies like the nudity trial of 1963 and the furore over a play about bestiality in 1967. These ideas - conservative and liberal, elite and diverse, traditional and avant-garde – all clashed every August in Edinburgh, making the Festival City an effective lens for exploring major changes in culture and society in post-war Britain. This book explores the ‘culture wars’ of 1945-1970 and is the first major study of the origins and development of this leading annual arts extravaganza.

‘It Wasnae Just Easterhouse’: The Politics of Representation in the Glasgow Gang Phenomenon, c. 1965–1975

In this chapter, we revisit the politics of representation in the Glasgow gang phenomenon, c. 1965–1975, as a means of drawing attention to the historical antecedents to these recent debates. In so doing we seek to draw attention to the variability in gang research – according to methodological approach, epistemological underpinning and geographical context – and the frequent lack of reflexivity in debate. Like the parable of the blind men and the elephant, where each felt a different part and thought they had discovered its true essence, these debates are too often partial and blinkered. Here we re-examine the work of James Patrick, Gail Armstrong and Mary Wilson, discussing the valuable distinctions between them, and reflecting on their significance for understanding the gang phenomenon in Glasgow (and elsewhere). We also explore not just what they can tell us about young people’s identities, but also about the role of the researchers themselves in shaping and constructing understandings of youth subcultures.

‘And those who live, how shall I tell their fame?’ Historical pageants, collective remembrance and the First World War, 1919-39: Historical pageants, collective remembrance and the First World War

This article examines the ways in which the First World War was represented in historical pageants during the interwar period. Pageants in this period are often overlooked as sites of commemoration and dramatic representation. Three types of pageant are identified: those that portrayed the war hyper-realistically, those which relied on symbolism and allegory to convey messages about war and peace, and those which sought to incorporate the war into the longer histories of the communities whose pasts they depicted. The article argues that ‘traditional’ forms of representation of the past proved to be resilient features of popular commemoration and remembrance.

‘And those who live, how shall I tell their fame?’ Historical pageants, collective remembrance and the First World War, 1919–39

This article examines the ways in which the First World War was represented in historical pageants during the interwar period. Pageants in this period are often overlooked as sites of commemoration and dramatic representation. Three types of pageant are identified: those that portrayed the war hyper-realistically, those which relied on symbolism and allegory to convey messages about war and peace, and those which sought to incorporate the war into the longer histories of the communities whose pasts they depicted. The article argues that ‘traditional’ forms of representation of the past proved to be resilient features of popular commemoration and remembrance.

'And those who live, how shall I tell their fame?'

This article examines the ways in which the First World War was represented in historical pageants during the interwar period. Pageants in this period are often overlooked as sites of commemoration and dramatic representation. Three types of pageant are identified: those that portrayed the war hyper-realistically, those which relied on symbolism and allegory to convey messages about war and peace, and those which sought to incorporate the war into the longer histories of the communities whose pasts they depicted. The article argues that ‘traditional’ forms of representation of the past proved to be resilient features of popular commemoration and remembrance.

‘And those who live, how shall I tell their fame?’ Historical pageants, collective remembrance and the First World War, 1919-1939

This article examines the ways in which the First World War was represented in historical pageants during the interwar period. Pageants in this period are often overlooked as sites of commemoration and dramatic representation. Three types of pageant are identified: those that portrayed the war hyper-realistically, those which relied on symbolism and allegory to convey messages about war and peace, and those which sought to incorporate the war into the longer histories of the communities whose pasts they depicted. The article argues that ‘traditional’ forms of representation of the past proved to be resilient features of popular commemoration and remembrance.