Genealogies of protest and resistance in the Scottish Highlands and islands after 1750

Abstract Histories of protest in the Highlands and Islands have been largely limited to the study of dramatic and large-scale events driven by issues of possession of and access to land after 1850. Most research to date has tended to focus on the crofting counties of the north-west of the region and the paradigmatic land raid, with alternate forms of protest and at different times often relegated to little more than a footnote. Experiences of agrarian improvement and the dramatic economic and social transformations of the ‘first phase of clearance’ between 1750 and 1820 have meanwhile stressed the apathy of the Highlander, who passively, if reluctantly, accepted his new lot. This article provides a review and critique of the literature on Scottish protest. It concludes with some reflections on future research agendas beyond these established genealogies and calls for a return to the archives of the everyday and a focus on alternative protest repertoires beyond that of protest against clearance.