Are we New Scots? Migrant Experiences and Racial, Ethnic and Cultural Barriers to an Inclusive Scotland Part of the Festival of Migration collection

About this event Are we New Scots?

Migrant Experiences & Racial, Ethnic & Cultural Barriers to an Inclusive Scotland. The Scottish Government, charities, & folk who want to resist the constant & ever-increasing hostility against migrants by the UK government, refer to as ‘New Scots’, to signal welcome and inclusion to those who want to make Scotland their home, regardless of where they come from. This civic nationalist approach is certainly better than the UK Government’s hostile environment, but ‘New Scots’ still seems puzzling for migrants like me. This talk sketches out where my discomfort comes from, & explains a general scepticism against attempts to paint all migrants with one brush, reducing the vast differences in gender, race, culture & reasons for migration to one universal migrant experience. ‘New Scots’ & civic nationalism are a welcome departure from blood and soil nationalism, but we need recognise that it does not capture the many barriers to inclusion & participation that many migrants in Scotland face. About Quan Nguyen: I joined Philosophy in Edinburgh as a Teaching Fellow in 2022, teaching Feminist Philosophy and Political Philosophy. I mainly work in ethics, rationality theory and feminist philosophy, but love to chat metaphysics of time and identity too.