Scottish Literature and Culture Network

Scottish Futurities The Scottish Government presented the Independence Referendum of 2014 as ‘a choice between two futures’. A ‘Yes’ vote would allow to ‘make the most of the many opportunities that lie ahead […]. The door will open to a new era for our nations.’ In contrast, ‘[i]f we vote No, Scotland stands still’. The Independence Referendum starkly put into relief a sense of futurity we understand not just as the notion of what will happen, or of a time that is not yet, but rather as the idea of the future intertwined with affective attachments such as hope and fear.This concept emphasises both the potentiality and transformative nature of thinking about what lies ahead – what José Esteban Muñoz calls ‘the not-quite-here’. The exploration of identities and imagined worlds through a future-oriented lens expands the present’s horizons, challenging established narratives and introducing new political concerns. This process of activating or modifying unrealised possibilities, which may