By the end of the chapter you should be able to:

• provide the conceptual tools for understanding Scotland sociologically.
   
• show how the concept ‘society’, and in particular ‘civil society’, is useful in understanding Scotland.
   
• examine the historical and philosophical roots of this approach in the Scottish Enlightenment.
   
• show how social institutions contribute to ‘being Scottish’.
   
• extend the understanding of the term ‘society’ by analysing Scotland sociologically.