Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Christopher Harvie (born 21 September 1944,

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

) is a Scottish historian and a

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) politician. He was a

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP) for Mid Scotland and Fife from 2007 to 2011. Before his election, he was Professor of British and Irish Studies at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

, Germany.

Life and career

Harvie grew up in the

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

village of

St Boswells St Boswells ( sco, Bosels / Bosells; gd, Cille Bhoisil ) is a large village on the south side of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, about southeast of Newtown St Boswells on the A68 road. It lies within the boundaries of the historic ...

and was educated in Kelso at Kelso High School and in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

at Royal High School. He studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where he graduated in 1966 with a

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in History. He received his PhD from Edinburgh in 1972 for a thesis on university liberalism and democracy, 1860–1886. As a historian, Harvie was the Shaw-Macfie Lang Fellow and a tutor at Edinburgh University 1966–1969. He joined the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

in 1969 as a history lecturer, and from 1978 he was a senior lecturer in history. In 1980, Harvie was appointed Professor of British and Irish Studies at the

. He is the author of several books on topics including

Scottish history The recorded begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. North of this was Caledonia, inhabited by the ''Picti'', whose uprisings forced Rome ...

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea and ...

, the British

political novel Political fiction employs narrative to comment on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction, such as political novels, often "directly criticize an existing society or present an alternative, even fantast ...

and

European regionalisation The European Union created a Committee of the Regions to represent Regions of Europe as the layer of EU government administration directly below the nation-state level. The committee has its headquarters in Brussels. Reasons given for this inc ...

. Harvie was formerly a member of the Labour Party. He co-wrote a pamphlet in favour of the

Scottish Assembly The Scottish Assembly was a proposed legislature for Scotland that would have devolved a set list of powers from the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Labour Government led the Scotland Act 1978 through Westminster which provided for the ...

along with

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

in 1979, and co-edited a history of Labour politics in Scotland. In 1988 he left the Labour Party for the SNP. He is Honorary President of the Scottish Association for Public Transport and holds honorary chairs at the

University of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

and the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

. He also writes for

Guardian Unlimited TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...

's online '

comment is free TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...

' site, and he is a contributor to the

Scottish Review of Books The ''Scottish Review of Books'' is a quarterly literary magazine published in Scotland. It was established in October 2004 with the support of the Scottish Arts Council. In 2009 it became a limited company with a board of directors, Scottish Rev ...

. He was elected during the 2007 election for the Mid Scotland and Fife region. He served on the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee. Harvie won the Free Spirit of the Year award at The Herald newspaper's 2008

Scottish Politician of the Year Scottish Politician of the Year is an annual award established in 1999. It is held by '' The Herald'' newspaper in Prestonfield House, Edinburgh. Although the awards ceremony has been held once at the Royal Museum, Prestonfield House Hotel is c ...

awards. He retired as an MSP at the 2011 election.

Bibliography

Books

* ''The Lights of Liberalism: University Liberals and the Challenge of Democracy, 1860–1886'', Allen Lane, 1976 * ''No Gods and Precious Few Heroes: Twentieth-century Scotland'', first published 1981, Edinburgh University Press (4th Edition), 2000 * ''The Centre of Things: the Political Novel from Disraeli to the Present'', Unwin Hyman, 1991 * ''Cultural Weapons: Scotland in a New Europe'', Polygon, 1992 * ''The Rise of Regional Europe'', Routledge, 1993 * ''Fool's Gold: the Story of

North Sea Oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea and ...

'', Hamish Hamilton, 1994, Penguin 1995 * ''Travelling Scot: Essays on the History, Politics and Future of the Scots'', Argyll Publishing, 1999 * ''Broonland: The Last Days of

'', Verso, 2010 * ''A Floating Commonwealth: Politics, Culture, and Technology on Britain's Atlantic Coast, 1860–1930'', Oxford University Press, 2008 * ''Mending Scotland'', Argyll Publishing, 2004 * ''Scotland: A Short History'', Oxford University Press, 2002 * ''Deep-Fried Hillman Imp: Scotland's Transport'', Argyll Publishing, 2001 * ''The Road to Home Rule'', with Peter Jones, Polygon, 2000 * ''Scotland and Nationalism: Scottish Society and Politics, 1707–1994'', first published 1977, Routledge (4th Edition), 2004, *
A Voter's Guide to the Scottish Assembly
', with

, David Watt & Sons, 1979

Articles

* ''Labour and Scottish Government: The Age of Tom Johnston'', in ''The Bulletin of Scottish Politics'' No. 2, Spring 1981, pp. 1 – 20 * ''Drumtochty Revisited: The

Kailyard The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

'', in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), ''The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment'' 27, August 1982, pp. 4 – 11, * ''Beyond Bairns' Play: A New Agenda for Scottish Politics'', in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), ''

Cencrastus ''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...

'' No. 10, Autumn 1982, pp. 11 – 14, * ''Drunk Men Looking at Thistles: Two Political Novels'', in Parker, Geoff (ed.), ''

'' No. 19, Winter 1984, pp. 7 – 9, * ''A Memo to the Chairman of the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

'', in Parker, Geoff (ed.), ''

'' No. 23, Summer 1986, p. 8, * ''Time Now for a New Politics for Scotland'', in Lawson, Alan (ed.), ''Radical Scotland'' Apr/May '87, pp. 6 & 7, * ''Faith and Scottish Identity'', in Lawson, Alan (ed.), ''Radical Scotland'' Jun/Jul '88. pp. 11 – 13,

References

External links

*
Christopher Harvie
Comment is free profile
Christopher Harvie
interview on his book Broonland: The Last Days of Gordon Brown on

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

by Jonathan Derbyshire {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvie, Chris 1944 births Living people People from Motherwell People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish historians Scottish literary critics Scottish political writers People educated at Kelso High School, Scotland Academics of the Open University Academic staff of the University of Tübingen Scottish Labour politicians Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 21st-century Scottish historians