American Scots: The Scottish Diaspora and the USA

Some 30 million people worldwide claim Scottish ancestry, making the Scots one of the world's largest diasporas. There are few countries around the globe without a Caledonian Society, a Burns Club, a Scottish country dance society, or some similar organisation expressing the Scottish social and cultural heritage. Duncan Sim describes the Scottish diaspora in America, one of the largest. His survey includes interviews with Scottish Americans about their family histories, their membership of Scottish societies and their continuing links with the Scottish homeland. Academic interest in diasporas has grown as the world's population has become more mobile and as forced migration has led to major increases in the numbers of refugee diasporas. In relation to the Scottish diaspora, there is increasing interest, partly as a result of devolution and the existence of a Scottish Government able to engage directly with Scots overseas. The author explores theories of diaspora and how the Scots fit into these. He describes work with American Scots and reports on detailed interviews which cover family histories and issues of identity and belonging. There are chapters dealing with diaspora events such as National Tartan Day and it concludes with some discussion of the continuing nature and importance of expatriate identity. Duncan Sim's book will interest those studying notions of identity as sociologists, geographers or political scientists. It provides a fascinating study of how American Scots relate to their 'home' and an insight into how those in Scotland perceive those Scots who are now abroad.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements. Introduction: The Scottish diaspora. 1 Hyphenated identities in America. 2 The Scottish communities in America. 3 Scottish expatriate organisations. 4 Tartan Day. 5 Maintaining a Scottish identity. 6 The relationship with modern Scotland. 7 Cherishing the diaspora. 8. Conclusions. Appendix: Summary of interviewees. Bibliography. Index.

About the Author :
Duncan Sim is Reader in Sociology at the University of the West of Scotland and has undertaken extensive research on issues of identity and ethnicity.

Review :
'The strength of American Scots lies particularly in the skilful interweaving of documentary evidence and oral testimony, both of which are deployed to reinforce the author's analysis of the ongoing significance of dual identities and diasporic strategies. A fuller picture might have been painted if there had been a stronger thread of Scottish-based research: while twenty-one interviews were conducted in Colorado and fifteen in New York, only two - with a higher education recruitment officer and a member of the Scottish Parliament - presented a Scottish perspective. Nevertheless, the interviewees whose observations form the core of the book impart vital colour to sociological theories, and while some historians may wince at the invention of tradition, and the persistent identification of emigration with exile, this study makes a welcome contribution to a growing corpus of scholarship on the role of associational culture and expatriate identifications within the multi-hued Scottish diaspora.' Northern Scotland 'Estimated at anywhere between 30 and 40 million, Scotland has the biggest diaspora of any nation. A large proportion ended up in North America, much of it in Canada but an even bigger number in the USA. Duncan Sim, a Reader in sociology at the University of the West of Scotland, has produced a book that looks at that diaspora, and in doing so he has produced that rarest of beasts: a book aimed at academics which is also easily accessible (for the most part) to the lay reader. True, there is some pointy-headed and rather dense musings on the nature of diaspora, but once you get past that then this is a pretty enjoyable read, not to mention one which answers several important questions. As a sociologist, Sim's interest is with the living, so he keeps the historical content to a minimum. Instead, the core of the book is made up of interviews with members of the Scottish diaspora in America, which is where things begin to get interesting. The most obvious point of interest is the fact that these interviews are split into two: on the one hand there are the Scots who crossed The Pond generations ago, many of them around the time of the Clearances, though there are some whose parents migrated as recently as the 1940s or 1950s; and on the other there are those Scots who were born and brought up in the mother country and who are first generation migrants. The way in which Sim draws out the huge differences between the two groups is deftly done and highly instructive.' Scottish Field 'Nevertheless, Sim has succeeded in writing a book that is both intellectually stimulating to the academic field and accessible to a wider readership. For those who identify themselves as Scottish- Americans, Sim's book provides an insight into how they express and perform this hyphenated identity and how they may be viewed by Scots in the homeland. For Scots in Scotland, this book demonstrates that a Scottish-American identity is more complex than a simple fixation on 'shortbread tin' and 'tartan tat' romanticism, but a true engagement with a certain kind of 'Scottishness'. For the academic audience, Sim provides an interesting analysis of why and how the Scottish diasporic community in America has maintained its Scottish identity, in many cases generations down the line.' History Scotland