tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/dundee-19509/articlesDundee – The Conversation2023-06-15T09:25:13Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2073812023-06-15T09:25:13Z2023-06-15T09:25:13ZSuccession is as much about technology as it is about money, power and family<p><em>Warning: the following article contains spoilers.</em></p>
<p>Technology is key to Succession’s tale of the Roy family media dynasty, with the drama playing out on screens within the show and in the homes of the viewers beyond it.</p>
<p>The final series is no exception. This is best illustrated in episode three, Connor’s Wedding. The siblings, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) – Connor (Alan Ruck), as always, is left out – find out through a phone call with Shiv’s husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) that their father Logan (Brian Cox) has suffered a heart attack and that they must say their goodbyes.</p>
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<p>Through technology – Roman’s iPhone and Tom’s Samsung, propped against Logan’s ear – the children share their emotional farewells. This proves one of the more emotional interactions with technology in a series otherwise littered with sterile, often absurd uses of technology. </p>
<p>This includes Kendall pinching to zoom in on a photo of his father’s will, heightening the drama as he seeks to ascertain whether his name has been underlined or crossed out as his successor.</p>
<p>And there are so many memorable tech moments. Gerri’s threat to publicly expose Roman’s “dick pics”. Kendall’s keynote at the Living Plus conference after his father’s death, where doctored footage of Logan haunts his presentation. </p>
<p>Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) stepping in for Tom to lay off ATN employees via Zoom with a brutal lightheartedness. Or PR executive Hugo (Fisher Stevens) being caught out chuckling at the ATN test reel of Kerry (Logan’s mistress), from behind a laptop screen. </p>
<h2>Technology and communication</h2>
<p>In the finale, scenes featuring technology operate in concert with one another. In episode five, Kill List, when the Waystar entourage travel to Norway to finalise the deal with Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), the Swedes mock them in their native tongue, leaving them humiliated but in the dark.</p>
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<p>However, in the last episode, the tables are turned. Matsson and his sidekick are discussing Tom’s potential to replace Shiv as their future American CEO, not knowing that Greg is eavesdropping using a translation app. The tension is ramped up as Greg stares at the dot, dot, dot of the app while it translates sentence by sentence.</p>
<p>In a series where people rarely say what they think and second-guess everybody else, viewers delighted in the real time voice-to-text translation happening as the Swedes conversed. The dramatic irony is exquisite as the previous conversation, in which Tom makes his “pain sponge” pitch to Matsson, plays itself out. </p>
<p>This information bleeds into the subsequent scene in the Caribbean, where Kendall and Shiv have travelled to see Roman, who has retreated to his mother’s villa following his disastrous attempted eulogy at Logan’s funeral. Kendall receives a call from Greg confirming the intel about Shiv’s exclusion.</p>
<p>After confronting her with the news, she immediately phones Matsson, who does not answer. We listen to the dial tone in anticipation – the interface between information being passed and received, between digital and analogue, between Shiv’s potential triumph and her failure to become CEO.</p>
<p>United behind Kendall in their mission to sabotage the merger, the siblings join Connor at Logan’s apartment to claim his remaining possessions. They adjourn to a private room to review a video recording of their late father attending a dinner.</p>
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<p>A few minutes in, CFO Karl (David Rasche) sings Robert Burns’ Scottish folk melody <a href="http://www.robertburns.plus.com/greengrow.htm">Green Grow The Rashes O</a> – an aural symbol of Logan’s heritage, featured prominently in episode six of season two, Dundee. It is somewhat ironic, given Burns’ song’s message is that men who live only to pursue money and status do not live happy lives.</p>
<p>“You’re butchering it”, barks Logan across the table, as the camera pans to him and then back to Karl, capturing the Scotman’s emotional response in handheld camera work reminiscent of the footage of the opening credit sequence.</p>
<p>Teary-eyed, his children watch on. It’s an interface with the past, with the deceased, through a screen in a moment of nostalgia, reflection, commemoration and memory – for the characters and audiences alike.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/succession-and-scotland-logan-roy-and-the-art-of-nation-branding-204962">Succession and Scotland: Logan Roy and the art of 'nation branding'</a>
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<h2>Succession’s digital culture</h2>
<p>Every episode of Succssion has moments depicting characters interacting with technology such as these. And while technology is, from the start, both the narrative subject and a means of communication, it also plays a key role in forging and involving an online community of fans.</p>
<p>Succession’s digital culture is rife, evidenced by the 89,000 followers of <a href="https://instagram.com/kendallroylookingsad?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">@kendallroylookingsad</a> on Instagram, viral fan theories on TikTok (such as @gigiontherun’s 2021 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/succession-characters-tom-use-samsung-iphone-android-fan-theories-finale-2023-5?r=US&IR=T#:%7E:text=Some%20%22Succession%22%20viewers%20on%20Reddit,in%20the%20show%27s%20final%20season.">iPhone theory</a>), the analysis of the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/SuccessionTV/comments/12i5rut/season_4_poster_significance/">season four promotional poster</a> on Reddit and the <a href="https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/458361243/Kendall-Roy-sad-mic">existence</a> of “sad Kendall” meme generators.</p>
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<p>As I watched the series finale, I was constantly wondering which scenes would become memes, or inspire fan theories and new readings. More cynically, perhaps, I couldn’t help but ponder if the finale baited this very culture, whether through Matsson’s laidback “<a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/succession-season-4-episode-5-lukas-matsson-alexander-skarsgard-style#:%7E:text=His%20uniform%20is%20one%20of,less%20Theranos%2C%20more%20Loch%20Ness.">gorpcore</a>” fashion or Tom placing a red-circle sticker on Greg’s forehead as a signal of ownership. </p>
<p>Checking Instagram on my phone the morning after the finale, there was one memorable standout from Instagram’s @kendallroylookingsad account, showing the defeated son looking out over New York harbour accompanied by the caption: “Sad because Kendall has looked sad for the last time.”</p>
<p>The post says it all – a singular example of technology being used to express feelings on a show which is about technology as much as it is about money, power and dysfunctional family. Succession’s spin-off digital culture is ultimately very meta, revealing how technology was not just a central theme of the show, but a means for fans to interact with it, even after its run has ended.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Samuel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How technology is central to the show’s most dramatic and pivotal moments – and how it might define its legacy.Michael Samuel, Lecturer in Digital Film & Television, Department of Film and Television, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1109192019-02-05T11:24:01Z2019-02-05T11:24:01ZFuneral costs are driving grieving families into poverty – but at last, a fightback has begun<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256630/original/file-20190131-110834-i7n68r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grave injustice. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-shot-colorful-casket-hearse-chapel-721359964?src=0fbFB0idVyS5_t1D2vlzfw-1-12">NTM999</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the depths of winter, more <a href="https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/deaths/winter-mortality">people die</a> than at any other time of year. And the cost of paying for their funeral has been rising sharply – up 6% a year <a href="https://www.sunlife.co.uk/siteassets/documents/cost-of-dying/cost-of-dying-report-2018.pdf">on average</a> since 2004, which is double the rate of inflation. Funerals now cost £4,300 on average, plus an extra £2,000 for optional extras like catering and flowers. </p>
<p>Funeral poverty is a new and increasingly prevalent aspect of UK hardship. For the poorest people, the costs are up to 40% of their annual expenditure – just one of the alarming findings in a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">recent report</a> by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). When the deceased person doesn’t have the funds, close relatives often need to borrow. In 2018, a third of next-of-kin <a href="https://www.sunlife.co.uk/siteassets/documents/cost-of-dying/cost-of-dying-report-2018.pdf">had to</a> contribute – with an average shortfall of £2,559. </p>
<p>Having to find this money is an additional stress at a horrible time. Anecdotally, housing officers in Dundee, Scotland, tell us that funeral debts are the reason rent hasn’t been paid; and there are church ministers whose members of their congregation can’t grieve properly for worrying about such costs. </p>
<p>Grieving families <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">do not act</a> as what economists would call “rational agents”. They are vulnerable and frequently haven’t organised a funeral before. They want to give their loved one the best possible send off, and consider it disrespectful to look for a “good deal” – particularly if the deceased’s wishes were never made clear. They rarely query funeral quotes, and often feel pressure to fund things they cannot afford. On average, poorer households <a href="https://www.royallondon.com/siteassets/site-docs/media-centre/national-funeral-costs-index-2018.pdf">spend</a> similar amounts on discretionary extras as wealthier ones. </p>
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<span class="caption">The respect problem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hearse-open-empty-gravediggers-1214661481?src=4vWHcAkFwjR2hmoh9soTkA-1-85">Robypangy</a></span>
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<p>It is difficult for people to compare funeral prices since these are rarely published online, and funeral directors often bundle charges into non-divisible packages. This lack of transparent information has been challenged by price aggregators like <a href="https://beyond.life/">Beyond</a> and <a href="https://www.yourfuneralchoice.com">FuneralChoice</a>, though few people <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">are aware</a> of these sites and even fewer use them. </p>
<h2>Big Funerals</h2>
<p>The Competition and Markets Authority, which has been investigating the funerals industry, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">suspects</a> it is not competitive, and is due to announce by March 31 whether it will make a full competition referral. But unlike most sectors where competition is potentially an issue, the funerals business is very fragmented: the two leading providers, <a href="https://www.co-operativefuneralcare.co.uk">Co-op Funeral Care</a> and <a href="https://www.dignityfunerals.co.uk/corporate/">Dignity</a>, have a combined market share of only 27%. The <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">CMA says</a>: “Dignity has consistently been among the most expensive funeral directors and Co-op more expensive than a large proportion of independents.” </p>
<p>Both Dignity and the Co-op <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">saw their</a> average revenue increase significantly ahead of inflation between 2013 and 2017. When a customer challenged Dignity about its prices in 2017, the company <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">responded:</a> “It has been the board’s policy, over the last six years to increase funeral prices by circa 7% per annum.” Dignity also contends, however, that it offers a higher quality product than many rivals, guaranteeing the use of a mortuary, for instance. </p>
<p>According to the company, its “standard funeral” costs around £3,500, whereas the Co-op has two packages in that category with an average cost of £3,097. Both numbers exclude third-party costs like cremation. Across the sector, funeral directors’ fees vary widely. When we assessed prices in Dundee in January 2019 using the <a href="https://beyond.life">Beyond site</a>, for instance, we found that fees range from £700 to £3,265. </p>
<p>Since 2017, both Dignity and the Co-op have cut their prices. They have introduced <a href="https://beyond.life/help-centre/funeral-costs/whats-difference-simple-traditional-funeral/">no frills</a> “simple funerals” – partly, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">says the</a> CMA, because of “heightened media and government interest” in the sector; but <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42751546">also partly</a> to defend market share. A survey by Royal London in 2018 <a href="https://www.royallondon.com/siteassets/site-docs/media-centre/national-funeral-costs-index-2018.pdf">found that</a> Dignity had reduced funeral directors’ fees by 25% in the past year, while the Co-op <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">has been</a> price cutting, too. Amid <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45466918">media talk</a> of a price war, the CMA said it was “difficult to establish whether this level of competition will be maintained over time”. </p>
<p>With three-quarters of funerals involving a cremation nowadays, costs for this service <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">have also</a> increased significantly, and now <a href="https://beyond.life/blog/coffin-up-crematoriums-forcing-37-price-hikes-on-bereaved-in-monopoly-shake-down/">average</a> around £800. Most crematoria are owned by councils, but private rivals are increasing – now nudging a third of the total. Dignity controls nearly half of this business, including all but one of the 20 highest cost crematoria in the UK, whose prices are around £300 above the national average. </p>
<h2>Fightback</h2>
<p>For people on benefits, the UK government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments">Funeral Expenses Payment</a> helps to cover funeral costs. But the payment has not risen <a href="https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/legislation/2017/12/social-security-scotland-bill-policy-paper-funeral-expense-assistance-fea/documents/00528753-pdf/00528753-pdf/govscot%3Adocument">since 2003</a>, and now falls short by an <a href="https://www.royallondon.com/siteassets/site-docs/funeral-plans/royal-london-national-funeral-cost-index-2017.pdf">average</a> of £2,355 per funeral. The eligibility criteria are also restrictive: the “<a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/press/working-families-still-locked-poverty-time-right-wrong-work-poverty">working poor</a>” don’t qualify, and nor do people with close relatives not receiving income support. </p>
<p>In Scotland, there are signs of improvement. The Scottish government has <a href="https://news.gov.scot/news/appointment-of-scotlands-inspector-of-crematoria">introduced</a> an inspector of crematoria <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Policy/BurialsCremation/InspectorFuneralDirectors">and</a> inspector of funeral directors, along with a <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2016/20/contents">regulatory regime</a> that could see a licensing scheme <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/inspector-funeral-directors-annual-report-2017-18/">in future</a>. The government has <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/draft-statutory-guidance-funeral-costs-consultation/">consulted</a> on things like transparency of pricing, while the Funeral Expenses Payment will be replaced this summer by a <a href="https://consult.gov.scot/social-security/funeral-expense-assistance/">Scottish equivalent</a> that will be partly index-linked and with more generous eligibility criteria. </p>
<p>There are also some notable local interventions, both in Scotland and elsewhere. In Dundee, which <a href="https://www.cas.org.uk/system/files/publications/cost_of_saying_goodbye_2017.pdf">has among</a> the highest funeral costs in Scotland <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/TrendSIMD">but also</a> some of the most deprived wards, a local social enterprise called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/funerallinkdundee">Funeral Link</a> has been set up with Scottish government funding. It offers confidential support to bereaved people such as helping them to save money and signposting additional assistance. </p>
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<span class="caption">Urning too much.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cremation-people-mourning-concept-woman-flowers-676224058?src=0fbFB0idVyS5_t1D2vlzfw-1-68">Syda Productions</a></span>
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<p>East Ayrshire Council introduced the <a href="https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/Resources/PDF/F/Respectful-Funeral-Service.pdf">Respectful Funeral Service</a>, a tailored package of lower cost but respectful offerings from local funeral directors. In its first year – financial 2017-18 – 22% of all funerals in the area used it, and there is little sign of this slowing down. Dundee is <a href="https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/financial-help-to-be-given-to-bereaved-dundonians-who-cant-afford-a-funeral/">now heading</a> in the same direction, while similar packages already exist in places in such as <a href="https://www.regentfuneralservices.co.uk/">Gateshead</a>, <a href="https://cardiffbereavement.co.uk/cardiff-council-funeral-service/">Cardiff</a>, <a href="https://www.salford.gov.uk/births-marriages-and-deaths/cemeteries-and-crematoria/salford-residents-funeral-services/">Salford</a> and <a href="http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/births-deaths-marriages/deaths-and-stillbirths/cemeteries-crematorium-burial-grounds/the-nottingham-funeral/">Nottingham</a>. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen how much these will help reduce funeral poverty. At Dundee University we’re carrying out a project to measure what happens in Dundee. But combined with the CMA investigation and the national-level reforms in Scotland, the signs are encouraging. By shining a brighter light on the industry, bereaved people will hopefully be able to say goodbye to loved ones in future without falling into poverty in the process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110919/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Bickerton receives funding from a Social Innovation Fund Stage 2 grant from the Scottish government and the EU. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carlo Morelli receives funding from the Scottish Government Social Initiatives Fund. </span></em></p>Guess how much the average funeral now costs. Hint: it’s more than most people pay for a second hand car.Ruth Bickerton, Researcher, Social Sciences, University of DundeeCarlo Morelli, Senior Lecturer in Business and Economic History, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/963152018-05-09T10:38:42Z2018-05-09T10:38:42ZHorror film festivals: why their best screenings never make it to multiplexes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218251/original/file-20180509-34027-m9rnck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cut. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/filming-horror-movie-female-zombie-holding-242381503?src=AepMNA-yhm06XdTW4tWU6g-1-3">Kiselev Andrey Valerevich</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the east coast of Scotland, calendars are circled in blood: it’s time once again for Dundead, the horror film festival that descends on Dundee each May. </p>
<p>Launched eight years ago for campaigning locals who wanted a dedicated festival to rival Glasgow’s <a href="http://www.frightfest.co.uk/glasgow-2018.html">FrightFest</a>, Dundead screens various previews and even premieres. There is always a gem among these mostly shoestring productions – like last year’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3289956/">The Autopsy of Jane Doe</a>, starring Dundee’s own Brian Cox, aka the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091474/">original Hannibal Lecter</a>. </p>
<p>The buzz this year has centred on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7026370/">Vampire Clay</a>, a Japanese film about possessed sculptures running amok in an art college. But my money is on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4399952/">The Lodgers</a>, a slice of Irish Gothic from Brian O'Malley, a young filmmaker whose <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3148348/">Let Us Prey (2014)</a> was a surprise hit at the festival several years back. </p>
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<p>These new releases are always built around a carefully curated themed retrospective. Last year’s focus was Stephen King; this year it’s the late Tobe Hopper – starting with his first and finest film, <a href="http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/event/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre">The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)</a>.</p>
<p>It’s not only Scots that want to scream at the likes of Leatherface, of course. Horror movie festivals have become big business in recent years. There is <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/back-from-the-dead-how-horror-is-this-year-s-rising-film-trend-1.3268256">Horrorthon</a> in Dublin; <a href="http://www.abertoir.co.uk">Abertoir</a> in Aberystywth; <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/horror-on-sea-film-festival-19-28-january-2018-tickets-38033279563">Horror on Sea</a> in Southend; while London has both the <a href="https://filmfreeway.com/BritishHorrorFilmFestival">British Horror Film Festival</a> and another <a href="http://www.frightfest.co.uk/frightfest-dates-for-2018.html">FrightFest</a>. </p>
<p>Yet now that the genre finally seems to have gained mainstream acceptance, you might wonder if afficionados will need so many festivals in future. Look no further than Jordan Peele winning Best Original Screenplay for <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5052448/">Get Out</a> at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-oscars-inclusivity-riders-are-a-start-but-change-needs-to-come-from-the-ground-up-92946">Academy Awards</a> this year. Everyone rightly celebrated Peele being the first African American ever to win this category, but most people failed to realise it is also very rare for a horror film to be recognised in this way. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Jordan Peele takes Best Screenplay.</span>
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<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/awards">The Silence of the Lambs</a> did take the five biggest Oscars in 1992, but it is the exception to the rule: horror movies rarely even get nominated, let alone win these categories. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/">The Exorcist (1973)</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/">Jaws (1975)</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/">The Sixth Sense (1999)</a> are the only others to have even been nominated for Best Picture in the past. </p>
<p>Not only has Get Out now been added to that list, it was beaten by Guillermo del Torro’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580390/">The Shape of Water</a> – a fantasy film with horror elements. Meanwhile, three Stephen King adaptations were also released in the past year, and were all quite good. The <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396484/">remake of It</a> performed well at the box office, while <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748172/">Gerald’s Game</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6214928/">1922</a> must rank as two of the best films to be premiered on Netflix. </p>
<h2>Anatomy of horror</h2>
<p>But while there is bound to be some overlap between horror festivals and these mainstream box office movies, Dundead helps to illustrate some differences. Many films showing at the festival have no advertising budget and therefore fall under the radar of most mainstream cinema exhibition chains. Yet in many cases, they would not be considered serious enough for many arthouse cinema programmers either. This lack of distribution can be a big problem for people working in the genre. </p>
<p>Festivals like Dundead, with its specialist programmer Chris O’Neill, help filmmakers working on the margins of the industry, including local talent, to get their work seen on the big screen.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Aaaaargh!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/filming-horror-movie-female-zombie-holding-242381503?src=AepMNA-yhm06XdTW4tWU6g-1-3">Joe Prachatree</a></span>
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<p>Horror films can, of course, be works of art. As a British cinema specialist, I think that Michael Powell’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054167/">Peeping Tom (1960)</a>, Jack Clayton’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055018/">The Innocents (1961)</a>, Roman Polanski’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059646/">Repulsion (1965)</a> and Nicolas Roeg’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069995/">Don’t Look Now (1973)</a> rival any film the UK has produced. </p>
<p>The best horror films reject the aesthetics, narrative codes and mores of conventional Hollywood cinema and replace them with something more innovative and subversive. Films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068833/">The Last House on the Left (1972)</a> addressed the Vietnam war long before any major studio dared to, just as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093286/">It’s Alive III (1987)</a> was years ahead of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107818/">Philadelphia (1993)</a> in confronting HIV/Aids. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/">The Blair Witch Project (1999)</a> proved that professional sheen was not a prerequisite for success. </p>
<p>Above all, a good horror movie provides a vicarious thrill. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/">Psycho (1960)</a> lets you be both Marion Crane and Norman Bates – the predator and the prey. We can confront both our darkest fears and even live out murderous fantasies, always in the knowledge it is only a movie. Put this together and you would have to conclude that horror is further from the mainstream than any other genre. </p>
<h2>Knives out?</h2>
<p>All this considered, this year’s recognition for Get Out was a double-edged sword. It is great to see a genre you love getting limelight, but being welcomed into the Academy can only lead to the genre becoming more bland and safe. </p>
<p>There are echoes of this in Dundee right now around plans for a nine-screen multiplex in the city centre. The site is right next to <a href="http://www.dca.org.uk">Dundee Contemporary Arts</a>, where Dundead takes place, and people are <a href="https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/646042/dundee-city-centre-multiplex-will-imperil-future-of-dundee-contemporary-arts/">rightly concerned</a> about the future of the centre. </p>
<p>It is hard to imagine a proper horror festival in a multiplex – even if Dundead was created in response to popular demand. Horror festivals are the antidote to Hollywood populism. Dundead attracts a crowd that includes DCA regulars and people who might not otherwise visit an independent cinema or watch a subtitled film. We all happily sit through an Italian giallo, a Korean zombie movie, or an Argentine ghost story. </p>
<p>So while it’s nice to see horror films going through a phase of mainstream critical recognition, brace yourself for some expensive turkeys in the coming months. If it’s the genre’s beating heart you are looking for, get along to horror festivals like Dundead instead. </p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/films/dundead">Dundead</a> runs from May 10 to 13 at Dundee Contemporary Arts.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96315/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Hoyle writes programme notes for Dundee Contemporary Arts, but is not paid for this and is not an employee of the centre. </span></em></p>From Dundee to Dublin, horror spectaculars are springing up like zombies from the dead.Brian Hoyle, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/867372017-11-02T14:34:09Z2017-11-02T14:34:09ZFlight of the living dead: how animation brings extinct species back to life<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193035/original/file-20171102-26478-1fg3l11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5850%2C1844&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brendan animation crop</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Who can forget Steven Spielberg’s first <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/04/the-i-jurassic-park-i-period-how-cgi-dinosaurs-transformed-film-forever/274669/">Jurassic Park</a> movie in 1993? How eagerly did we anticipate that bellowing <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Tyrannosaurus">T-Rex</a>? Or gasp at the sheer scale of the <a href="https://www.livescience.com/25024-brachiosaurus.html">brachiosaurus</a> as it lumbered into view? Never before had animation been so lifelike and believable. I was hooked – this is what I wanted to do.</p>
<p>An animator’s role is to design the movement of a creature or character. For 15 years I worked in visual effects for films where this was a useful skill – if a director wanted his hero to be attacked by a four-headed, six-legged dragon, I could use my knowledge of anatomy from existing creatures and my understanding of physics to design its movement. When I transferred to academia, it was not immediately apparent where this skill could be used in a research practice.</p>
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<p>Then I realised it could be useful in recreating extinct species. Without the actual animal to study, artists have to bridge the gap between bones and the creature’s fully fleshed appearance. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2017/jul/19/paleoart-the-strange-history-of-dinosaurs-in-art-in-pictures">Paleoartists</a> – illustrators of extinct species have been doing this since the first fossils were found.</p>
<p>However, where a paleoartist is concerned with the look of the creature, I wanted to focus on its movement, combining existing knowledge and skills with detailed research into current palaeontological discoveries to create as accurate an animation of that species as possible. By focusing on the science – something professional animators rarely have time to do – and building it from a skeleton, I could acquire a deeper understanding of the creature and the way it moved.</p>
<h2>Scotland’s archaeopteryx guy</h2>
<p>This year celebrates the 100th anniversary of the publication of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/21/growth-form-darcy-wentworth-thompson-review">On Growth and Form</a> by renowned Scots zoologist <a href="http://www.darcythompson.org/about.html">D’Arcy Thompson</a>, a professor of natural history at Dundee and St Andrews Universities for 63 years. So it was fitting in 2017 to animate a fossil from his large collection of zoological specimens at his <a href="https://www.dundee.ac.uk/museum/collections/zoology/">museum</a> in Dundee. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193033/original/file-20171102-26456-ae22q4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193033/original/file-20171102-26456-ae22q4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193033/original/file-20171102-26456-ae22q4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193033/original/file-20171102-26456-ae22q4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193033/original/file-20171102-26456-ae22q4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193033/original/file-20171102-26456-ae22q4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193033/original/file-20171102-26456-ae22q4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">D'Arcy Thompson, a professor of natural history for 63 years at Dundee and St Andrews.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=D%27Arcy+thompson&safe=off&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjdnsa49p_XAhWoJ8AKHdvsAuwQiR4IsQE&biw=1425&bih=669#imgrc=y3Jj1i10XCjY-M:">ongrowthandform.org</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>I was drawn to a rare cast of the <a href="https://www.naturkundemuseum.berlin/en/museum/exhibitions/feathered-flight-150-years-archaeopteryx">Berlin Specimen of archaeopteryx</a> – one of the earliest known descendants of modern birds. The archaeopteryx is an icon of evolution that helped to show the <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28985201/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/nine-links-transition-dinosaurs-birds/">transition</a> of dinosaurs to birds, and support the then new <a href="https://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html">theory of evolution</a>. Thompson refers to this in his book, describing how the hip-bones of archaeopteryx could be manipulated to form the hip-bones of more recent <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/cretaceous/">late-Cretaceous</a> bird, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apatornis">Apatornis</a>.</p>
<p>The fossil is not only vitally important scientifically, but is one of the most beautiful found, with its wings held aloft in an angel-like pose. First the delicate fossil was laser-scanned, then loaded into our computer animation program, <a href="https://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/maya/overview">Maya</a>.</p>
<p>The key to animating it correctly would be the skeleton, and luckily the cast allowed me to clearly see the sizes and shapes of the limb bones. Then I researched bird movement, looking at chickens, jackdaws, lapwings, vultures, magpies and crows. Archaeopteryx is about the size of a crow and so I looked to them for the speed of movements, although they are built for walking, with long legs, like a chicken.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193031/original/file-20171102-26478-1ya66zl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193031/original/file-20171102-26478-1ya66zl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193031/original/file-20171102-26478-1ya66zl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193031/original/file-20171102-26478-1ya66zl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193031/original/file-20171102-26478-1ya66zl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193031/original/file-20171102-26478-1ya66zl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193031/original/file-20171102-26478-1ya66zl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A cast of the Berlin Specimen archaeopteryx from the zoological collection of natural historian D'Arcy Thompson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/archaeopteryx-fossils-imprint-442306897?src=mfQgzBRAWTVKd_UvL9-dDg-1-0">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And there are differences between these modern birds and their <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/jurassic/">Jurassic</a> predecessor; the long tail of archyopteryx would mean that its centre of gravity and leg posture would be different. On a visit to the <a href="https://www.rvc.ac.uk/">Royal Veterinary College</a> in London, I was introduced to the <a href="http://www.xromm.org/">XROMM</a> machine which X-rays animals as they move – an incredibly useful resource for animation.</p>
<h2>Social media reaction</h2>
<p>From X-rays I moved to animation tests to see how one movement would fit on the proportions of archaeopteryx. Then I thought it might be interesting to post my work on Twitter, so I created animated <a href="http://searchmicroservices.techtarget.com/definition/animated-GIF-Graphics-Interchange-Format">gif</a> files to play automatically. Next I decided to hijack the paleontological hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fossilfriday?lang=en">#fossilfriday</a> and posted my animation with the 3D scan of the fossil cast in the background. Not only did they prove popular, but palaeontologists and paleoartists gave me great feedback that was helpful as I refined my animation. </p>
<p>When top paleoartist <a href="http://www.skeletaldrawing.com/bio/">Scott Hartman</a>, with numerous <a href="https://www.academia.edu/2411843/The_tenth_skeletal_specimen_of_Archaeopteryx">scientific papers</a> to his name, described my walk as a “very solid archaeopteryx walk cycle”, that really made my day.</p>
<p>The most popular animated gif was of the skeleton emerging from the fossil, bone by bone, which then came to life. There is something magical about an animal reforming in front of your eyes, something broken becoming whole, something extinct and long dead coming back to life. It’s something every dinosaur enthusiast wants to see.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"901027029004505088"}"></div></p>
<p>So how did the archaeopteryx fly? It may have had wings to aid jumping and running, gliding down from a tree or to help it climb. There is even a theory that the archaeopteryx ran across water like a <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/g/green-basilisk-lizard/">basilisk lizard</a>, using its wings to prevent it from sinking into the water.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"885819513945673728"}"></div></p>
<p>At the moment there is no clear consensus, so the final animation was more of an exploration of current ideas and theories. My archaeopteryx flapped and jumped to catch a dragonfly then ran with its wings out and flapping, then flew and finally glided back to earth.</p>
<p>But it was important to connect the animated archaeopteryx to the fossil, to increase understanding of the animal, not upstage or distract from it. The animation was projected on to a perspex prism containing a 3D print of the fossil cast, which provided a <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/hologram.htm">holographic</a> effect where the bones seemed to emerge from the fossil, reform as the animal, then disappear again, leaving the viewer looking at the fossil with new eyes.</p>
<p>There is still so much to know about the archaeopteryx. As new specimens are found and new discoveries made, the artworks will need to reflect those changes. Like scientists, paleoartists need to change their views according to new evidence. So the time will come again when I return to my archaeopteryx and make it fly once more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Body does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One animator combined his skills with paleontological evidence to breathe movement into a dinosaur fossil to eye-catching effect.Brendan Body, Lecturer in Animation, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/849282017-10-13T14:39:37Z2017-10-13T14:39:37ZA beacon of urban renewal: how post-industrial Dundee transformed itself<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189766/original/file-20171011-16686-2yjlm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">V A from River AR</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Creativity and culture have always contributed enormously to the evolution of our societies, but in recent years there has been a growing realisation of the value of the arts as an economic driver.</p>
<p>Cities have woken up to the fact that a vibrant cultural offering makes people want to live there, and the numbers back this up. <a href="https://nycfuture.org/pdf/Creative-New-York-2015.pdf">New York</a> is home to nearly 14,000 arts-related businesses employing nearly 300,000 people and generating revenues of $230 billion each year. <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/creative-industries-in-london.pdf">London’s</a> creative industry sector is worth £35 billon and employs around 800,000 people.</p>
<p>These may be massive global cities, but in Dundee, a small city on the east coast of Scotland, the creative industries produce a total annual <a href="https://www.rgu.ac.uk/download.cfm?downloadfile=6117EE60-FB84-11E3-80660050568D00BF&typename=dmFile&fieldname=filename">turnover</a> of £190m and provide employment for 3,000 people. When you consider that the population of the city is just 150,000, you get some indication of the importance of the cultural sector to its economic well-being.</p>
<h2>Renaissance city</h2>
<p>Dundee is a dynamic city with a <a href="http://www.dundeecityofdesign.com/downloads/Dundee%20Cultural%20Strategy_online.pdf">strong cultural identity</a> and a <a href="http://creativedundee.com/2015/08/dundee-creative-industries-eu-study/">history of innovation and creativity</a>. But by the late 1980s, profound <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264816898_The_decline_of_jute_and_the_de-globalisation_of_Dundee">post-industrial decline</a> had turned a once proud and world-facing city into a fragmented shadow of its former self.</p>
<p>Now the city famed for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/victorian/trails_victorian_dundee.shtml">jute, jam and journalism</a> – the three Js that defined its economy and global reputation – has become home to a thriving digital media industry, internationally respected universities, world-renowned <a href="http://www.drugdiscovery.dundee.ac.uk/about-us/news">drug discovery</a> and medical <a href="http://medicine.dundee.ac.uk/main-news">advancements</a>, not to mention a vibrant design and creative sector.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m_pSyg0UPgA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">V&A Dundee/YouTube.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.archdaily.com/tag/kengo-kuma">Kengo Kuma’s</a> new <a href="https://www.vandadundee.org/building-vanda-dundee/the-building">Victoria and Albert building</a> which sits at the heart of Dundee’s £1 billion <a href="https://www.dundeewaterfront.com/about/masterplan">waterfront regeneration</a>, is already having a transformative effect, with investment flowing into the city and businesses springing up to service the anticipated tourist numbers.</p>
<p>The economist <a href="http://luskin.ucla.edu/person/allen-j-scott/">Allen Scott</a> refers to the “<a href="http://escholarship.org/uc/item/77m9g2g6#page-1">new economies</a>” of post-industrial cities, saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The peculiar forms of economic order that are in the ascendant today represent a marked shift away from the massified structures of production and the rigid labour markets that typified <a href="http://www.cddc.vt.edu/digitalfordism/fordism_materials/thompson.htm">fordism</a>… [and are] made up of sectors such as the high-technology industries; neo-artisan manufacturing; business and financial services; cultural-product industries (including the media).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is surely an apt description of contemporary Dundee, where the solution becomes one of nurturing and retaining diverse and rich talent.</p>
<h2>Voyage of rediscovery</h2>
<p>The fact that the V&A will soon open its first building outside of London coupled with its elite <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-30275768">UNESCO City of Design status</a>, means that Dundee is finally being recognised as a design hothouse. Both of these initiatives are the result of dogged determination by groups of passionate people within the city, who believe in the city and wouldn’t live anywhere else. Why move when you can help build?</p>
<p>It is a <a href="http://en.unesco.org/creativity/creative-economy-report-2013">well-evidenced</a> fact that the creative and cultural economy is growing, and smaller cities like Dundee can benefit from the opportunity to take their share of this market. Many of the building blocks are already in place. The city enjoys a great resource of talent nurtured by the universities of Dundee and Abertay, and a great coastal location with a wealth of local heritage.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dundee sits on the River Tay, looking over to Fife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ernpics/37489411666/in/pool-dundee/">Eric Niven/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This and Dundee’s transformation is not lost on the growing audience for cultural tourism. A thriving cultural scene can drive exponential growth in both tourism and inward investment. It makes a place not just attractive to visit, but also to live, study and work in. This in turn engenders civic pride, a strong identity and a burgeoning self-confidence.</p>
<h2>Lessons to be learnt</h2>
<p>Dundee’s path to “rediscovery” has much to offer other cities. It’s not based around any individual’s ambition or success. It represents a strong partnership between government, local authorities, agencies, industry, academia and education, where organisations and focused like-minded individuals have agreed a shared vision.</p>
<p>Many people cite the establishment of <a href="http://www.dca.org.uk/about">Dundee Contemporary Arts</a> (DCA) as the turning point for this cultural shift. DCA opened in 1999, but the idea of building a visual arts centre in Dundee was established in the early 1980s with the aim of brightening up a decaying industrial townscape. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The creation of the DCA - Dundee Contemporary Arts - in 1999 prompted a cultural shift in the city.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DCA</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The establishment of a <a href="https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/627b195f-7918-3bae-a3dc-c72ce077029a">biological sciences centre</a> at the University of Dundee effectively kickstarted a new focus in both academia and spin-off businesses around drug discovery. This new identity, labelled <a href="http://www.biodundee.co.uk/About+BioDundee/">Bio-Dundee</a>, harnessed the notion of a dense cluster of scientists and businesses compressed within a three-mile radius. The opportunities for growth on a global scale attracted talent to Dundee from all over the world, and the talent wanted good housing and good schools, but also good cultural and recreational provision. </p>
<p>In the late 1980s to mid 1990s, a new industry began to form in Dundee. Driven by closure of the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/timex-closes-dundee-factory-company-leaves-city-after-bitter-dispute-1464205.html">Timex factory</a> which was producing <a href="https://www.extremetech.com/computing/127109-zx-spectrum-30-years-old-and-still-one-of-the-cheapest-computers-ever-made">ZX Spectrum computers</a>, a bedroom computer games industry started to emerge, with the globally successful game <a href="https://readonlymemory.vg/the-making-of-lemmings/">Lemmings</a> and later <a href="https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-games-designer-says-two-decades-grand-theft-auto-boosted-citys-reputation/">Grand Theft Auto</a> exemplifying its ambition.</p>
<p>Throughout the 1990s the games industry cluster grew, with University of Abertay launching the world’s first <a href="https://www.abertay.ac.uk/discover/academic-schools/arts-media-computer-games/">computer games degree programme</a>, attracting students and other creatives to the city, which was now garnering international acclaim. The <a href="http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/interactive-tayside-profile">Interactive Tayside</a> business support agency was set up by Scottish Enterprise Tayside, and an industrial strategy was formed.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Desperate Dan, a much-loved character from The Dandy, a comic first published in 1937 by Dundee publishers DC Thomson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seapigeon/37459911032/in/pool-dundee/">Graeme/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since then, the city has been able to retain and attract creative talent from all over the world, causing a rising swell of demand, activity and development. In short, people took risks, invested their lives, generated success, and government took note. Investment soon followed.</p>
<p>The city’s continuing evolution is part of a journey which began centuries ago with Dundee’s trailblazing achievements in exploration, trade and communications, and is based on authentic activity and indigenous growth. Linen and textiles, education, jute, jam, journalism, drug and medical research, computer gaming and the creative and cultural industries have all grown from activities that were started by citizens of Dundee, in a physical and political landscape both challenging and complementary, and changing with the times.</p>
<p>Dundee is not built around recommissioning a brownfield site, developing buildings and then incentivising their use. It is in fact the very opposite: strong, industrious and innovative activity attracting further development funding. Dundee has always been about adapting to change and exploring new opportunities. A new journey of discovery has begun.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84928/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Harris has received funding from AHRC; Scottish Enterprise; Creative Scotland; Scottish Arts Council; Scottish Government.
Paul Harris is Chair of Regional Screen Scotland.</span></em></p>Many cities could learn from Dundee, which overcame industrial decline to become a UNESCO City of Design, with a shiny new cityscape to matchPaul Harris, Professor and Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/647082016-08-31T15:45:11Z2016-08-31T15:45:11ZCities will just be playgrounds for rich if poor keep being pushed to suburbs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136133/original/image-20160831-30762-1lolr1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Are you being served?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcatcarson/3035622814/in/photolist-5CfmUo-5Cb4jr-8jas8c-gBpPRP-cikbRh-8dQFiw-8fxg81-aEsL7N-8jdG7b-2XGKHX-9YTCFo-9YTBuq-eXXfXP-7EEpui-8jdFbS-8jarn2-5BPKEQ-b75nQ-eY9buQ-8xoiQL-bxTd1-8xkhiF-7EEce2-7EJ5HC-8xkhvD-6k7aM8-83asGv-4hhX5c-3watS-bM55gp-83asKF-5BFWEp-PATKi-nJGWv-a8sa5f-b6bBYH-9f7FGi-78Hyim-PQSSH-78DGWa-78Hy1h-78Kruu-78DFJt-nFAXD-78HxJs-578dxr-83dBjo-78FzV4-78DHcM-78HA2s">Lee Carson</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Successive <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/Cities">governments</a> in Europe have <a href="http://urbanagendaforthe.eu/introduction/">impressive visions</a> for the future of our cities. These reject the divisive urban model of earlier decades, where richer people moved to low-density, car-dependent suburbs, leaving inner cities predominantly to the poor.</p>
<p>In the sustainable cities of the future, the vision is to attract richer people back to city centres. This will reduce their need to travel and increase public transport use. Importantly, these movements are supposed to bring about more mixed communities of people from different walks of life, living alongside one another harmoniously. </p>
<p>To achieve this urban renaissance, the UK has, for example, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-initiatives-to-help-build-more-new-homes-on-brownfield-land">been directing</a> housing development towards brownfield sites in the core of cities, limiting greenfield development at the edge. It has also been among those pushing substantial investment through urban regeneration schemes in land preparation or infrastructure. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/publicpolicypractice/State,of,Cities,V1.pdf">Sure enough</a>, this has halted and in some cases reversed the population losses which core cities have experienced for decades as richer people have been attracted back to the centres. Yet poorer people are being pushed out; poverty is “suburbanising”. We have seen this pattern <a href="http://confrontingsuburbanpoverty.org">in the US</a> and more recently <a href="http://www.smith-institute.org.uk/book/poverty-in-suburbia-a-smith-institure-study-into-the-growth-of-poverty-in-the-suburbs-of-england-and-wles/">in England</a>, particularly <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/poverty-housing-london-fenton/">London</a>.</p>
<p>Scotland’s four largest cities are also experiencing this trend, as <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/SIMD">new data</a> confirms. In Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, the share of each city’s population living near the centre either stayed the same or rose between 2004 and 2016. At the same time, the proportion of poorer people has been falling (see graphs below). </p>
<p><strong>Income-deprived population living in central city (%)</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136126/original/image-20160831-30804-sawq0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136126/original/image-20160831-30804-sawq0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136126/original/image-20160831-30804-sawq0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136126/original/image-20160831-30804-sawq0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136126/original/image-20160831-30804-sawq0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136126/original/image-20160831-30804-sawq0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136126/original/image-20160831-30804-sawq0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136126/original/image-20160831-30804-sawq0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Non-deprived population living in central city (%)</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136127/original/image-20160831-30794-obshi3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136127/original/image-20160831-30794-obshi3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136127/original/image-20160831-30794-obshi3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136127/original/image-20160831-30794-obshi3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136127/original/image-20160831-30794-obshi3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136127/original/image-20160831-30794-obshi3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136127/original/image-20160831-30794-obshi3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136127/original/image-20160831-30794-obshi3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The central area of Edinburgh has seen a loss of approximately 4,000 people in low income households over the period. In Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, where this trend <a href="https://www.aqmen.ac.uk/sites/default/files/RB5-poverty-suburbia.pdf">has been identified</a> before, the figure is approximately 6,000. For <a href="http://rpubs.com/JonMinton/200186">the smaller cities</a> of Aberdeen and Dundee, the losses were around 400 and 700 respectively.</p>
<h2>Segregation</h2>
<p>What is driving this change? As city living has become more popular, poorer households are finding it harder to compete for housing. Social housing stock <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0048/00485857.pdf">has fallen</a> for decades, meaning those in poverty are having to rely more on renting privately. When cities attract wealthier people, landlords can charge rents that poorer people struggle to afford. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, recent welfare reforms have <a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/impact-welfare-reform-social-landlords-and-tenants">successively cut</a> the housing benefits that subsidise rent payments for those on low incomes – at the same time as inequality levels <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/scottish-income-inequality-surges-as-rich-get-richer-a7107756.html">have been rising</a> more generally. The net result is that these people are pushed towards cheaper areas, away from the more central neighbourhoods. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136134/original/image-20160831-30780-1sruvho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136134/original/image-20160831-30780-1sruvho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136134/original/image-20160831-30780-1sruvho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136134/original/image-20160831-30780-1sruvho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136134/original/image-20160831-30780-1sruvho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136134/original/image-20160831-30780-1sruvho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136134/original/image-20160831-30780-1sruvho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/136134/original/image-20160831-30780-1sruvho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/andyramdin/17380108475/in/photolist-stPAJF-nV6hQE-dMrtmQ-dKpcKx-nUTofk-cZ2a39-c1GCiU-dkPccG-nCJ5du-dky4Yh-e2wvxL-dKKmz3-cTxhiJ-nFmLBm-nKjZyW-nCG8hu-nV6haS-o1CnSp-d3VEhf-nCLeX4-GBVrXC-nXJUdr-nX2cFP-GBVsvw-nFxJrQ-dmgRwp-cTxhfh-nXWc1f-TqmX4-o24NT7-7MLrGt-dKK5kb-o47dD6-d3U8g3-nZMiB9-nLC5ty-nXVvQ9-o5UwLP-dLr1vx-9oQ71S-nFxLJd-9ojuUM-o5Tn6i-GoaE3J-GL5ZbN-Go7RG1-9sf1my-nCKBNy-dLwxGd-9vj2fF">Andy Ramdin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>As in other countries, this suburbanisation of Scottish poverty looks to be a steady but largely hidden process. If it continues, the cities of the future will be far from the visions set out by policymakers and planners. </p>
<p>Instead, they will continue to be marked by segregation and deep division, only now with poorer households pushed to the edge. That has potentially serious implications for these people’s welfare, particularly their ability to access employment. It also threatens broader social cohesion. If politicians are serious about their visions for the future, it is time we recognised these trends and started talking about how to halt them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64708/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was conducted as part of the ESRC-funded Applied Quantitative Methods Network (AQMeN – <a href="http://www.aqmen.ac.uk">www.aqmen.ac.uk</a>) (ESRC award ES/K006460/1).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Minton is an Urban Segregation & Inequalities Research Fellow for AQMeN, funded by ESRC (ESRC award ES/K006460/1)</span></em></p>Scotland’s new deprivation figures confirm a wider trend towards suburbanising poverty.Nick Bailey, Professor of Urban Studies, University of GlasgowJonathan Minton, Quantitative Research Associate, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/461512015-08-14T16:07:52Z2015-08-14T16:07:52ZJeremy Corbyn lacks an answer to Labour’s Scottish conundrum<p>Dundee probably hasn’t seen the like since the independence referendum. The university’s main lecture hall was full to the point that the organisers had to open a large over-spill room to cope with everyone. According to <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/C_ALiddle/status/631883548761419776">one report</a>, 700 people had come along for the evening, myself included – typical of what has been happening around the UK. </p>
<p>We were here for the second leg of Labour <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/08/11/uk-britain-politics-labour-idUKKCN0QG0LG20150811">frontrunner</a> Jeremy Corbyn’s four-city tour of Scotland, a place where he has much work to do if he wins the leadership election – and where Scottish Labour is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-33911963">about to</a> announce its own new leader in a contest that has had much less attention than this one. </p>
<p>So what did he say about Scotland? Very little, as it happens, besides a few throwaway remarks about Red Clydeside and Keir Hardie. We heard much about the principles that would define his leadership however: protecting the NHS and reversing internal marketisation; promoting human rights; abolishing Trident; encouraging compassion towards migrants and the poor; creating an economy which worked for the poorest; abolishing tuition fees; and fighting the <a href="http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/welfarereformandwork.html">welfare reform bill</a>. </p>
<p>It was all met with enthusiasm and applause from this Dundee audience, in the city which last year <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/scottish-independence/scottish-referendum-full-results-region-by-region--graphic-9743248.html">voted</a> the most emphatic Yes of all in the referendum. But the Scottish question loomed large and unanswered during Corbyn’s speech. He also failed to account for the fact that many of the policy areas he referenced are devolved. In the case of tuition fees and the NHS, Scottish policy is fairly close to his own position already.</p>
<h2>Question time</h2>
<p>Scotland only came to the fore when it came time for questions, starting with a Yes voter saying that independence was the only viable option for many on the left. In an advance interview with the Dundee Courier, Corbyn <a href="http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/politics/video-jeremy-corbyn-says-no-to-a-second-independence-referendum-1.894717">had said</a> he didn’t think a second referendum was a very credible idea, since it was <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/alex-salmond-asks-scotland-to-grasp-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-1410693956">supposed to have been</a> once in a lifetime. </p>
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<p>At the event Corbyn conceded that the Scottish people may well vote for a second ballot, saying that any further decisions on this would be taken by the Scottish and UK parliaments. But he added that Labour was ultimately motivated by class and solidarity, that poverty did not consider national boundaries and that social justice had to be promoted everywhere in the UK. </p>
<p>He posed a question that those in favour of independence ought to consider. Pointing out that Scotland had crucial policy powers that should be used to combat the Conservative policy agenda, he asked whether these should be addressed in solidarity with the rest of the UK. Was it worth staying in a UK that was becoming the kind of country that many Yes campaigners wanted of Scotland, or was independence something that ought to be achieved regardless? </p>
<p>It did seem as if Corbyn understood that some of the motivations behind much of the Scottish left had been about rejecting the British state in favour of an independent Scottish one – and this was evidenced by <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-jeremy-corbyn-resurrect-labour-in-scotland-45129">the rejection of Scottish Labour in favour of the SNP at the general election</a>. Clearly if he wins he will have a difficult task in persuading this group that their objectives can be achieved as part of the UK. On the other hand, his contention that he is the contender best placed to persuade them may well be right. </p>
<h2>Conventional to the last</h2>
<p>Corbyn received rapturous applause when he described the House of Lords as an anachronism during a question about the British constitution. This led him to another interesting suggestion relevant to Scotland. In opposition, he wants Labour to hold a constitutional convention to address Scotland, among various other matters: the quality of UK democracy, devolution to the English regions, what to do about Wales and Northern Ireland, and the prospects for a written constitution. </p>
<p>While eye-catching, this raises as many questions as it answers. How would this process be conducted? Who would be involved? What would the remit be? Given that this constitutional convention would address territorial and procedural issues, could it deal with such a large workload in a meaningful way? It looked like a way for Corbyn to buy himself time, although he is committed to a more “bottom-up” form of political engagement and a convention would certainly make this a distinct possibility. </p>
<p>The inescapable conclusion is that constitutional questions are not at the forefront of his agenda. And we need a clearer idea of how Corbyn’s commitment to solidarity would be reconciled with questions of territorial distinctiveness and further devolution to Scotland – not to say growing public support for some form of English devolution. Historically Labour has seen the British state as a mechanism for promoting equality and common social entitlements. The very notion of further devolution of tax and welfare powers risks undermining the party’s understanding of the social union. </p>
<p>Even Jim Murphy realised this by backtracking on <a href="http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/page/-/Scottish%20Labour%20Devolution%20Commission%20report.pdf">Labour’s proposals</a> for very limited further devolution that were published before the independence referendum. Before standing down in the wake of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/scotland">general election rout</a>, he was advocating the so-called <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-31090242">“vow plus”</a>, including greater control over welfare and unemployment. It will be interesting to see which tack the next Scottish Labour leader takes when they are elected on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-33911963">August 15</a>. </p>
<p>In the meantime, Corbyn leaves Scotland with some thinking to do. If he can properly articulate what solidarity means in the UK today and in future, it may well be part of the answer to Labour’s electoral woes in Scotland.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46151/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig McAngus does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The left-wing firebrand might be packing out venues in Scotland as much as England, but he’s got some thinking to do.Craig McAngus, Research Fellow, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.