James Kelman was born in Glasgow,
June 1946, and left school in 1961. He began work in the printing trade
then moved around, working in various jobs in various places. He was
living in England when he started writing: ramblings, musings, sundry
phantasmagoria. He committed to it and kept at it. In 1969 he met and
married Marie Connors from South Wales. They settled in Glasgow and
still live in the dump, not far from their kids and grandkids. He still
plugs away at the ramblings, musings, politicking and so on, supported
by the same lady.

1. Introduction
2. Oppression and Solidarity
3. The Freedom for Freedom of Expression Rally Istanbul 1997
4. A Press Conference in Turkey
5. Em Hene!
6. Solidarity With İsmail Beşikçi
7. The University of Strathclyde Students’ Association Grants Honorary Life Membership to Abdullah Öcalan
8. But What Is It They Are Trying to Express?
9. Who’s Kidding Who?
10. Nobody Can Represent a Grieving Family
11. Evidence Provides the Pattern, The Pattern Reveals the Crime
12. Pernicious Fabrications
13. A Notorious Case
14. Murder in The Line of Duty
15. Arise Ye Torturers-To-The Crown
16. Home Truths (Or Endnote)
Addendum: The 1997 Gathering in Istanbul for Freedom Of Expression
Index

"Incendiary and heartrending, the sixteen essays in The State Is the Enemy lay bare government brutality against the working class, immigrants, asylum-seekers, ethnic minorities, and all who are deemed of "a lower order." Drawing parallels between atrocities committed against the Kurds by the Turkish State, and the racist police brutality, and government sanctioned murders in the UK, James Kelman shatters the myth of Western exceptionalism,revealing the universality of terror campaigns levied against the most vulnerable, and calling on a global citizenship to stand in solidarity with victims of oppression. Kelman's case against the Turkish and British governments is not just a litany of murders, or an impassioned plea--it is a cool-headed take down of the State and an essential primer for revolutionaries