'Globalization' and the dream of progress

This roundtable reflects on the intellectual contribution of the Scottish activist, journalist, and theorist Tom Nairn, who died in 2023. Nairn was a leading figure in the British New Left and the movement for Scottish autonomy and independence. His writings had a formative impact on two major strands in the writing of modern British history: the turn to a 'Four Nations' historiography and the debate over British 'decline' and modernization. This roundtable interrogates the extent to which his work still speaks to current and future agendas for our field. Individual contributions address Nairn's role in the history of the Scottish left, his examinations of monarchy and empire, and his complex interpretations of millennial discourses of multiculturalism and globalisation. What emerges is a picture of a flawed but indispensable shaper of modern British historiography, who inspired and may continue to inspire new work and new insights: not despite, but because of, his polemical style, his powerful political commitments, and his restless appetite for provocation.