Some critical comments on Law and Mooney (2006)

Abstract

In an article in this journal in 2006, Law and Mooney hold up our book, Living in Scotland: Social and Economic Change since 1980, written with Lindsay Paterson, as a prime example of what they regard as a theoretically ill-informed account of the social structure of Scotland. In reaching their conclusions they make use of highly selective quotations, inaccurate statements and unacceptable inferences from what we say to why we say it. Our purpose in this brief note is to set the record straight and defend ourselves against what we see as a perverse use of Living in Scotland to support their ideological position by damning our book with faint praise, employing selective quotation and misinterpreting what we say.