Shortcut links to Key Material on this web

[Contact information]

[Engagements itinerary

[BBC Audio Interview/Profile]

[Links to Other Websites]

[Published articles by (chronological listing)]

[Published articles by classified subject index:]

1. Community

2. Globalisation

3. Nonviolence

4. Sustainability

5. Land Reform

6. Superquarries

7. Epistemology

8. Psychology

9. PNG & Pacific

10. Spirituality

11. Consciousness

12. Mythology

The links below shortcut to a cross-section of material on this website

[Rare third party resources on this website]

[The Return of the Summit of Mount Roineabhal, Harris]

[Spiritual Activism MSc Module at the CHE]

[BBC Thoughts for the Day]

[Le Monde Diplomatique article - land reform & national identity]

[Europe, Globalisation and Sustainability]

[Scotland, Nature & Religion]

[Cold War Psychohistory]

[Power of Love: What can nonviolence say to violence?]

[People & Parliament: the full technical report]

[Embracing Multicultural Scotland: CHE's "Who's a Real Scot?" report]

[Dream Job Report - minority ethnic opportunity in Scotland]

[The Harris superquarry lawsuit: Do corporations have human rights?]

[Liberation Theology in Community Empowerment]

[Esquivel's Stations of the Cross]

[Land reform & Eigg campaign]

[Review article Michael Fry's Wild Scots - land reform & historical revisionism]

[Sustainable Community Housing Policy - consultation paper]

[The Highland Clearances & colonial psychodynamics]

[Combatting Islamophobia]

[Origins of the Bougainville Crisis]

[United Nations paper - Celtic biodiversity & geopoetics]

[Edinburgh International Festival lecture on identity & belonging]

[The late Colin Macleod of the GalGael Peoples of Scotland]

[The GalGael Peoples: 1996 poem on identity, & GalGael Trust]

[Celtic shamanism and cultural psychotherapy]

[Consciousness research]

[Fairy Hills & conservation]

[St Andrew: nonviolence, feminism & Scots nationhood]

British science policy: a classical & ecofeminist critique]

[The science of Dr Strangelove]

[Discounted Cash Flow & weak sustainability critique]

[Historical critique of usury]

[Erós & Thanatos: tobacco advertising psychopathology]

[Poverty, Chastity & Obedience]

[Environmental Education for Adaptation - report on university environmental education]

[The Cult of Biotechnology?]

[State of Scottish fishing industry]

[Sustainable tropical forestry - Wokabout Somils in S. Pacific]

[Healing Nationhood (book)]

[Eigg Freedom Shlide - 12/8 celebratory jig]

New Here:  [Scottish fishing industry ESRC/Scottish Govt presentation, Mar 08]  [Submission to Scottish Govt Rural Housing Inquiry, Mar 08]  [INSEAD sharing/debate with Lafarge Vice-President, Harris Superquarry, Feb 08]  [Index of Rare 3rd Party PDF Resources, Feb 08]  [Walter Wink Festschrift on spiritual activism, Jan 08]  [Audio archive of land reform broadcasts from the 1990s, Dec 07]  [Guest editorial on participation in town & country planning, Dec 07]  [Synopsis of book on climate change due June 2008 and info on the launch with Minister for the Environment]

Hello, and a warm welcome to the website of Alastair McIntosh. Thank you for visiting my homepage. Located in Glasgow, Scotland, I am writer, lecturer, social activist, broadcaster and campaigning academic from the Isle of Lewis; a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology (CHE), a director of the GalGael Trust, a Visiting Fellow of the Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster, and Visiting Professor of Human Ecology at the University of Strathclyde. See below for contact details. 

What I Do and Why this Website (updated April 2008)

When you take an interest in major world problems of our time, it's like pulling on a tangled ball of string. You can't unravel one loop until you've understood the interconnections with all the rest. As such, my work is extremely varied, but what joins it all up is a fundamental passion for that which gives life - with community that is social, ecological and even spiritual.    

The purpose of this website is to represent myself professionally in self-employment and to make available material unearthed over more than three decades of exploration, action and reflection. It comprises a constantly growing range of work representing my field of human ecology - the study and participation in the relationships between the natural environment and the social environment. Some would define human ecology as simply being the relationships between population, environment, resources and technology (PRET). I don't think this goes far enough. We need also to incorporate the psychological and spiritual context of what it means to be human beings. I therefore do human ecology with attitude. It is linked together always by asking such questions as, "Is what I'm doing now feeding the hungry?", "Is it relevant to the poor or to the broken in nature?", "Does it contribute to understanding and meaningfulness?", and, "Does it give life?" 

The articles reproduced in the publications sections of this website are normally material that has already been published in print media elsewhere and has therefore passed through a third party refereeing or editing process. The contents range from items that appeared in small local newspapers to national newspaper features,  papers in peer reviewed scholarly journals, reports and deliveries at conferences. There is a small amount of 3rd party material where I've scanned vital material e.g. Camara's Spiral of Violence, or Esquivel's Stations, that's gone right out of print. In sum, the pages on this site reflect what I have so far found human ecology to be about. This is not uncontroversial - according to Harvard University's law school, this website has been one of 854 blocked by the People's Republic of China . How's that for a bit of, shall we say, relaxing "armchair persecution"?! 

Campaigns, Work & Writing 

My best-known work includes Scottish land reform especially with the Isle of Eigg (1990 - present), the Harris superquarry battle (1992 - 2004), the spirituality of community, identity, belonging and place (1986 - present), nonviolence and understanding war (1976 - present), and the development of human ecology in Scotland (1990 - present). Click this video link to view a 90 second "Pressure Point" film of my work with urban deprivation and land reform from Scottish TV's "Politics Now" programme of 16-09-04 (requires Real Player or Windows Media Player). 

Less well-known is my work with South Pacific education, development and ethnography (1980-91), sustainable tropical forestry (1984-95), micro-hydro electric and alternative energy (1978-86), the depth psychology of cigarette advertising (1995-96), the "Glasgow Two" release campaign with TC Campbell (1994 - 2000), NGO marketing, PR, finance & management (1980 - 1990), parapsychology and the psychology of consciousness (1973 - 1980), cultural psychotherapy, conflict and power analysis (1994 - present) and the GalGael Trust, urban poverty and cultural renewal (1997 - present).

For press interviews on some of these issues click here, as well as my book, Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power, where I've interwoven theory of "engaging the powers" with accounts of growing up on the Isle of Lewis, the land reform campaign on Eigg, and Harris superquarry campaign. As of 2006 this had sold 10,000 copies and is available in the paperback edition at £8.99 from the Scottish-managed London publisher, Aurum Press (part of Quarto), with USA distribution from Trafalgar Square Books. A French translation has been available from Editions Yves Michel since March 2005, and I would welcome interest from other potential translators in this work that has variously been described as "world changing" (George Monbiot), "life changing" (the Bishop of Liverpool), "wonderful and inspiring" (Starhawk) and "truly mental" (Thom Yorke of Radiohead). 

My work is undertaken as a self-employed academic, writer and activist, working in such venues as Strathclyde University, Queen's University Belfast, Edinburgh University (where I was postgraduate teaching director in human ecology for 7 years), Aberdeen University (for which I give annual Key Lectures in rural communities), the University of Ulster's Academy of Irish Heritages (a new involvement), and several other universities around the world. Other venues where I speak or teach include the Edinburgh International Festival, the Schumacher Lectures and Schumacher College, Greenbelt Festival, the Society for Ecological Regeneration, Groupe Credit Mutuel (a French bank where I have trained management in principles of mutuality), Lafarge in Paris (where I tentatively sit on their Sustainability Stakeholders' Panel), INSEAD European Management School near Paris, the Russian Academy of Sciences Economics Department, the British Council, the Irish School of Ecumenics, the World Council of Churches, and, rather incongruously but regularly over the past decade, the Defence Academy's Joint Services Command & Staff College (Britain's foremost military training establishment). One of my most unconventional engagements - just in case some of the above sounds a bit heavy - is performing now and and again with the chart-topping duo of "JCB Song" fame, Nizlopi. See the itinerary on this page for links to or details about some of these, including abstracts of presentations.

Life & Work with Vérène 

My wife, Vérène Nicolas, and I live in Drumoyne in the Greater Govan area of Glasgow. This is the former shipbuilding area and has many social problems but great cultural richness. We chose it because, amongst other things, we already had strong connections there through our involvement with the Govan-based GalGael Trust (of which I am a founding director and the Treasurer). 

Vérène is also a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology and she co-ordinates the MSc degree in human ecology in partnership with Strathclyde University. We work both closely together and also have our own separate areas of involvement. Her specialist concerns rest with the empowerment needs of marginalised women, combating racism, activist mentoring and popular education, especially with the Training for Transformation approach from South Africa. Information about her workshops, articles and reports are on her website - www.VereneNicolas.org . Our work constantly seeks to deepen understandings of spirituality and community. We offer workshops on this, including the spirituality of marriage.

On New Year's day in 2007 Vérène and I were shaken by the sudden death at 32 weeks of Ossian, the son we'd been expecting. The significance and the richness interwoven with this tragedy is still unfolding, and there is some sharing about this on Vérène's website. Much of our work involves the dynamics of a dying world and seeking alternatives to violence in the world. We know that Ossian's short life is going to factor into this considerably in the future.

Work & Funding as of 2007

Since 1996 I have been entirely self-employed in my work. At present my main commitments are various pieces of contract teaching work, especially on the MSc degree with CHE and Strathclyde University where I am responsible for the masters level module in Spiritual Activism and the annual field trip. Teaching and lecturing absorbs about a third of my time, and the rest is spent writing and campaigning, including my role locally in Govan on the board of the GalGael Trust.

During 2007 I have been working on a book Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition, commissioned by Birlinn Press in Edinburgh and due out directly into paperback (£8.99, 296 pp.) in late June 2008. Here is a synopsis:

My work is funded entirely from writing, public speaking, teaching, consultancy, small grants and, sometimes, private benefactors. As transparent fiscal accountability is important in the sort of work I do, I have made details available at this link (last updated March 2007).

My address and other contact details, keywords for internet search engines, and events itinerary are given below. Notification of errors within, and the provision of links from your website to this site, are warmly appreciated. Thank you for visiting.

Click here to go to published articles index

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Contact Information:

 

Alastair McIntosh

26 Luss Road

Drumoyne

Glasgow

G51 3YD

Scotland / Ecosse

 

 

Tel: 0141 445 8750 (+44 141 from overseas)

(Please try to avoid phoning outside weekday working hours)

Email - see instructions below

 

Directions: If coming from central Glasgow, the easiest way if completing your journey by bus or taxi is to take the subway to Govan. The bus station is right beside the subway. We're on the No. 90 (First Direct) or 289 (Yellow) bus routes (costs about £1). Ask to get off at Craigton Road, just past the Post Office (Luss Rd is the next off to the right). Alternatively, take a taxi either from the stand diagonally opposite the subway station near the Pearce Institute or from the taxi office which has a buzzer on the door beside the Brechin Bar (or call 0141 440 0001). Taxis cost about £3. If walking, the route is easier to describe if you get out at Ibrox subway station which is one mile from our house. Exit the station and turn right onto Copland Road. Up to the lights and turn right. Pass the Rangers football stadium, go straight on over the first roundabout, on to the second roundabout and straight over, then following the instructions as shown in the next paragraph.

 

If coming by car on the M8 from east or west, exit at junction 24 (Helen Street), signposted for Govan. Head downhill and over the lights to a roundabout, as if heading to the Clyde Tunnel. Turn left at the roundabout then right at the lights into a residential area, Craigton Road (signposted to "Elderpark Workspace"). Luss Road is the 3rd on the left (or 4th depending on what you count). 

 

If coming by car from the North via the Clyde Tunnel, as you exit the tunnel prepare to take the first left just at the tunnel's end. Be careful - it comes on you very quickly and it's easy to overshoot. This brings you out onto Govan Road with a very large roundabout. Turn right at this, onto Drive Road, passing a Elder Park on your left. At the end of Drive road, keep the park on your left by turning left onto Langlands Road. Take the 3rd right, just before you lose the park, onto Arklett Road, then 2nd right is Luss Road.

 

Avoid the M8 approaches if you can when there's a football match on at Ibrox. There may also be parking congestion at such times.

 

 

Contacting me by Email:  mail@AlastairMcIntosh.com .... important instructions if emailing me .... first, make sure you spell it right - the capitals don't matter here, but I get loads of people who understandably spell my name wrong and then wonder why they never hear back. Second, check on my itinerary (above) to ensure I'm around as Verene usually insists that I take her rather than the computer on holiday. And third, I'm really sorry but as my email address is all over the web, I am forced to use the SpamArrest "Accept List" system to avoid the couple of hundred spams a day that otherwise come in. What this means is that if you email me from an address not already on my "accept" list, including an alternative email address that you maybe use, I will not normally see your email until you respond to a "challenge message", which will require you, only once, to type a particular word into the system. If you do this you will then be added to my accept list and I will be able to receive the message you just sent plus all future ones without further hassle. The challenge message is sent out almost immediately, so if you are a stranger emailing me, and it's urgent, please wait a few minutes then check your in-box to respond to the challenge. The exception to this requirement is in situations where I have authorised emails from an entire domain to be accepted, for example, with institutions with which I work closely. In such cases your email will get straight through without challenge. A major problem, however, is when your email system or your domain can mistakenly think that my challenge message is spam and junk it before you see it. Apart from mis-spellings of my name, this is the main cause of me not getting emails. Accordingly, if you are in doubt as to whether I might have got your message or not, please follow up by phone on the above number. If I'm not in, leave a message saying when you sent your message, and if it's there I'll manually dig it out of the spam filter. Very sorry about all that, but it's the only way I can manage the mail I receive. I do, by the way, try to respond even if very briefly to all emails received, though sometimes this can take quite a while if I'm under pressure.

Website keywords: Centre for Human Ecology - Action for Transformation Programme with Verene Nicolas - working with spirituality, community empowerment project, land reform, social justice, ecological justice, cultural regeneration, liberation theology, ecofeminism, deep ecology, interfaith, multiculturalism, combating Islamophobia, Quakerism, Quakers, transpersonal psychology, parapsychology, individuation, C.G. Jung, development, democratic intellect, GulfWatch, activist training, Training for Transformation, the Scottish constitution, St Andrew, saltire, Declaration of Arbroath, Isle of Eigg Trust, GalGael Trust, Iona Community, Isle of Lewis, Leurbost, Liurbost, Luirbost, Liurboist, Líurboist, Lurebost (does our village have an identity crisis?), North Lochs, Isle of Harris, Papua New Guinea, Highlands, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, Lingerabay superquarry, Lingerbay, Lafarge, Redland, People & Parliament, Embracing Multicultural Scotland, Carbeth Hutters, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Orthodox Church, Schumacher Society, appropriate technology, micro-hydro electric, indigenous values, indigenous technologies, music, penny whistle, poetics, geopoetics, bard, bardic school and, of course, in the full Celtic tradition of Scots mythopoesis ... the faeries, fairies and faerie out from under the fairy hill.

Name spelling variants: Alastair Iain McIntosh, Alastair I. McIntosh, A. I. McIntosh, A. McIntosh, Alistair MacIntosh, Alastair MacIntosh, Alistair MacIntosh, Alastair Mackintosh, Alistair Mackintosh, Alasdair Mackintosh, Alistair McIntosh, Alasdair McIntosh, Mc Intosh, AlastairMcIntosh, Alisdair, Alister, Alligator (well, that's what Microsoft's spell-check suggests!).  .