Democratic Left Scotland was formed as an autonomous organisation in May 1999, as the
Scottish Parliament was being established. This involved an agreed separation from the UK-wide
Democratic Left, which subsequently merged into the London-based campaigning organisation
Unlock Democracy. Democratic Left was the constitutional successor to the
Communist Party of Great Britain (1920 – 1991), and so Democratic Left Scotland is the successor organisation to the CPGB in Scotland. This legacy does not define the organisation in any limiting way: although some current members were active in the ‘democratic’ /
Eurocommunist wing of the CPGB, others were not, and the organisation ‘draws freely on a range of values and perspectives developed by socialists and Marxists, feminists, greens, anti-racists’ and others. Between 2002 and 2016, Democratic Left Scotland published a print magazine, Perspectives. It publishes occasional pamphlets, including one by
Neal Ascherson on the life and work of
Tom Nairn: Painting Nationalism Red?
(This 2018 publication marked the presentation to Dundee City Council of a portrait of Nairn by Sandy Moffat, which was commissioned by DLS). The organisation currently produces a regular PDF newsletter and publishes a range of ‘news, views, perspectives, reviews and reflections’ on the Democratic Left Scotland website Democratic Left Scotland defines itself as ‘a European organisation’ and is a partner organisation of the
Party of the European Left, which organises left-wing, green and radical parties and networks across the continent. == References ==