The conformist imagination: think-tankery versus utopian Scotland

Demos are keen to shed the attachment of too many Scots to outdated social democratic values. Here Scots are cast as too consensual, reticent and fearful of dissent, making genuine dialogue particularly difficult. Yet it is Demos themselves that can’t make their mind up if dialogue should be consensual or disputatious. Story-telling is advocated because it creates self-understanding and a ‘feeling of belonging and security’. Recent rhetorical psychology has demonstrated that thinking and self-understanding arise dialogically through argument, debate, dispute and dissent rather than agreement, consent, and conformism. What happened to the idea that far from being passively conformist Scots tend to be democratically carnaptious, always ready for an argument at the drop of a hat? Demos fall into the trap of imputing essential psycho-cultural characteristics to an entire nation.