Academic literature on the topic 'Catalonian nationalism'

The article analyses relationships between history and memory in the context of Catalonian nationalism. Its essential aim is to demonstrate how one makes (i.e. uses and abuses) memory in Catalonia. The author seeks to show that Catalonian nationalism means manipulation of history, falsification of sources and distorted interpretations rather than a discourse about the actual history of Catalonia.

Parliamentary debates on the definition of the nation-state and national identities are a very revealing discursive domain of tracing the cues of the social construction of this category. Integrating social-psychological and discourse analyses, this article studies how Spanish nationalism interacts with the most influential regional (Catalonian and Basque) nationalisms in the Spanish Parliament in Madrid, and in the regional Parliaments of Catalonia and the Basque Country. The study is based on a two-dimensional framework, which characterises nationalist cultures in terms of their Institutional Status (“established” vs. “rising” nationalism), and in terms of the Basic Assumptions (“civic” vs. “ethnic” aspects in the social representation of the nation — Smith, 19986, 1991). According to the conceptual framework, each of these nationalisms represents a different combination of “established” (Spanish) or “rising” (Basque and Catalonian) Institutional Status as well as of “civic” (in Catalonia) or “ethnic” (Spanish and the Basque) Basic Assumptions (Grad, 1999). The study shows that, in these parliamentary contexts, the Institutional Status and the Basic Assumptions not only configure different nationalist positions, but also configure distinct “discursive formations” — reflected in interactional dynamics (of inclusion vs. exclusion, compatibility vs. incompatibility, and consensus vs. conflict relations) — between the different national projects and identities. These discourses belong to an “enunciative system” including systematic subject (the dominant national identity), system of references (or referential) terms to denote national categories or supra-regional — Spain, Spanish State, Basque Country, Catalonia — that serve to distinguish between national in-group and out-group, and clearly differ in extent and connotations in established and rising national codes), as well as associated fields (more ascriptive membership criteria, rigid group boundaries, requirement of internal homogeneity, restrictive referent and extension of the “us” in the ethnic than in civic codes), and materiality (strategies of discursive polarisation, especially salient in the Basque Country parliamentary discourse, which both indicate less compatibility between identities and aim to delegitimise dissent with regard to national referents and goals). Finally, in parliaments where ethnic codes are confronted (Spanish and Basque) politeness is impaired, there is a higher degree of controversy, and the strategies of delegitimisation constitute strong face-threatening acts which endanger the “tacit contract” of the parliamentary interactions. In this regard, ethnic centralist and independentist political positions make harder the compatibility between national identities than civic regional-nationalist and federal proposals. Recent confrontations between Spanish and Basque national positions seem to confirm the patterns found in this analysis.

Abstract The following article aims to make headway on the knowledge related to the elements that explain the steep increase of secessionist nationalism during the 21 st century in the peripheral territories of plurinational Western long-established democracies, such as the ones existing in the United Kingdom and Spain. In order to do so, we will be focusing on the quick change observed in the preferences as to the state territorial organization in Catalonia and Scotland. Through the usage of the logistic regression technique, a longitudinal analysis will be carried out to analyze the principal characteristics of the Catalonian and Scottish independence profile throughout the period comprehended between 1999 and 2016.

Social facts and policies can be understood only in light of our own perceptions. This holds true with a vengeance where ethnicity, nationhood, or nationalism are concerned. All through the twentieth century this syndromecum-terminological chain has played an extensive, puzzling and usually unpredicted part in structuring social life and political action. New ethnic identities (for example, Tanzania'ism or Indonesian'ism) with their related designations and loyalties have cometo the fore with a speed that reveals the transitional and relational nature of ethnic phenomena. The same holds true for the ups and downs of acute nationalism. On the other hand, many throughout the world would agree with the great Catalonian historian, Pierre Vilar, whose internationalist values are not in doubt, that “in the relationship between my own life and history, nationals problems seem to overwhelm all others.” However one may conceptualize ethnicity and nationalism, their political impact has provided a major and continuous dimension of social action.

El presente escrito aborda el problema político y jurídico que representan para el Estado las propuestas independentistas del nacionalismo catalán. Nuestra tesis es, partiendo de la compatibilidad absoluta del Derecho Internacional y del Derecho Constitucional, que la respuesta a si una entidad territorial puede decidir unilateralmente independizarse del Estado es, en un Estado Constitucional democrático, necesariamente negativa. En concreto, mantenemos que cuando no es posible apelar al Derecho Internacional Humanitario, el problema de la secesión es un problema puramente interno de un Estado que, por lo tanto, no es en el Derecho de la Unión Europea, sino en el Derecho Constitucional español, y la Teoría democrática del Pouvoir Constituant, donde habrá de buscarse la solución al problema que plantea el nacionalismo catalán.The present document studies the political and juridical problem that the independence proposals of the catalonian nationalism represents for the Spanish State. Our thesis, beginning with de absolute compatibility between International Law and Constitutional Law, is that the answer to the question if a territorial entity can decide by itself to become independent, in a democratic Constitutional State, is necessarily negative. To sum up, we maintain that when it is not possible to appeal to the Humanitarian International Law, the seccesion is a merely internal problem of a State and, so that, it is not in the European Union Law, but in the Spanish Constitutional Law, and the democratic Theory of the Pouvoir Constituant, where you must look for a solution to the problem set up by the catalonian nationalism.

Pro-independence movements in the Basque Country and in Catalonia have old historical roots. Whereas in Catalonia the pro-independence social mobilization has recently gained energy, in the Basque Country it seems less prominent nowadays. We explore the psychosocial predictors associated with individuals’ involvement in collective efforts towards independence in both these contexts. We distributed an online questionnaire among Basque (n=132) and Catalonian (n=152) independence supporters. Among the Basque independence supporters, pro-independence collective action tendencies were negatively predicted by perceived social status and identification with Spain, and positively predicted by patriotism and collective efficacy. Among the pro-independence Catalonians, only identification with Catalonia and collective efficacy beliefs predicted pro-independence collective action tendencies. These results are discussed considering historical, political, and socioeconomic factors.

Variation in secessionism among sub-state nationalists is part of one of the great puzzles of ethnic politics. Sub-state national movements tend to bifurcate and, at times, trifurcate, into two or three basic nationalist orientations: independentist nationalism, autonomist nationalism (and its sub-variants), and federalist nationalism (and its sub-variants). There is a dearth of systematic comparative research into the sources and patterns of internal variation in the political orientations of sub-state national movements. This article investigates why some sub-state nationalists opt for a secessionist orientation while other nationalists within the same national movement opt for a variety of non-secessionist orientations. I use evidence gathered in Quebec and Catalonia, consisting of 42 interviews among the top leadership of the eight national parties of these societies, 15 focus group interviews with party militants, and 370 questionnaires answered by militants, etc. The national consciousness and materialist approaches fail to elucidate these issues. Instead, sub-state nationalists have expectations about what is fair treatment by the central state, and notions about what obligations emerge due to common membership in a plurinational state. Independentists and strong decentralizers (strong autonomists and radical asymmetric federalists) opt for their chosen orientations because they perceive that central state institutions are unable to promote an ethos of plurinational reciprocity and are aggrieved by state nationalism, while less-decentralizing nationalists (weak autonomists and traditional federalists) assert that the central state is capable of accommodation and reciprocity and have no grievances about state nationalism.

This article aims to illustrate the confusion within today’s secessionist movements regarding the liberal and the nationalist arguments for legitimising secession. To do so, the liberal theory of secession – understood as an approach primarily based on consent – is examined, its limitations highlighted and its contradictions with nationalism stated. We then use the case of the fictional Tabarnia region to show how problematic the use of liberal arguments by secessionist nationalism is. Although until now only a virtual region, Tabarnia exemplifies how nationalist arguments reappear in the defence of Catalan independence when its supporters claim to only propose arguments of free association.

The article dissects the problem of Catalan Nationalism. The author analyzes the historical development of Catalan nationalist movement. The article examines the relations between Spain and Catalonia up to the present time and makes attempts to propose the resolution of this problem.

In this thesis I ask whether food can be used to express Catalan national identity, and if so, in what ways this occurs. In doing so, I consider the lived realities of nationalist movements, rather than simply the ideas and political claims that inform such movements. The Catalan Autonomous Community in northeast Spain is an ideal place to research this issue, due to the strengthening of nationalist sentiments there in light of the rise in support for independence from Spain. I wished to see whether this had any effect on the connections between food and national identity (or gastronationalism). National identity and food are connected in many diverse and varied ways. Food culture allows us to reflect on national identity as a whole. Themes which commonly appear in nationalist discourse, such as cultural specificity, historicism, or landscape (to name but a few), also inform discussions of national food identity. In the present case, while other markers of identity (e.g. language) are also important, ideals of Catalan nationalism may take the guise of Catalan gastronationalism as well. The current pro-independence movement has had the effect of making Catalans more aware of their cultural symbols, including cuisine, which is now one of many such symbols that can be mobilized for the expression of national identity.

El objetivo central de la tesis doctoral es investigar la importancia de las bases territoriales del nacionalismo catalán, y sobre todo el proceso a través del cual la nación viene a ser definida en términos territoriales. Se puede referir a este proceso como la producción y reproducción territorial de la nación, o la socialización nacional territorial. Así, la tesis propone un estudio cronológico de este proceso en el caso del nacionalismo catalán, desde su inicios en el siglo XIX hasta la actualidad, caracterizada por lo que podemos llamar la globalización.
Dentro de este objetivo general, la tesis define el nacionalismo como movimiento e ideología que promueve reivindicaciones en nombre de la nación. Una de las reivindicaciones más importantes es que la nación debe tener o su propio estado o al menos un alto grado de autonomía política. Ya que el ejercicio de tal poder político es necesariamente territorial, el nacionalismo está obligado a controlar o reivindicar un territorio.
Sin embargo, la hipótesis principal postula que el nacionalismo no solamente controla o reivindica un territorio concreto, sino que invierte en él un significado especial para convertirlo en territorio nacional. A partir de aquí, para el nacionalismo, la nación viene a ser definida en términos del propio territorio nacional, de modo que la identidad nacional se deriva del territorio. Cómo consecuencia de ello, el control por parte de los nacionalistas sobre territorio y los recursos y personas que contiene queda perfectamente justificado: sus reivindicaciones político-territoriales en nombre de la nación son justificados por el hecho de que la propia nación nace del territorio.
En un segundo término, de la hipótesis general, se deriva una segunda hipótesis, construida sobre dos premisas básicas. En primer lugar, la construcción del territorio nacional inevitablemente implica la unificación de lugares distintos dentro de una jerarquía especial, en cuyo punto más alto normalmente se encuentra la capital. Al mismo tiempo, y en segundo lugar, la identidad nacional es una mezcla de identidades procedentes de lugares y zonas concretos que son ampliados para convertirse en componentes de una identidad nacional del territorio entero. La hipótesis es que la identidad nacional resultante de este proceso reflejarán las relaciones existentes en la sociedad.
Para avanzar los argumentos con el fin de justificar las hipótesis planteadas, la tesis se divide en dos partes, cada una de cuatro capítulos, además de la introducción y las conclusiones. La primera trata cuestiones generales, sobre el nacionalismo, las bases territoriales de su relación con la nación a través de la identidad nacional, y los posibles cambios que la globalización pueda suponer para esta relación. La segunda parte, desarrolla estos debates en el contexto del nacionalismo catalán y analiza cómo éste ha producido y reproducido la nación catalana territorialmente a lo largo de los últimos dos siglos.
En términos generales, se puede concluir que las hipótesis planteadas en la primera parte se confirman en el caso del nacionalismo catalán. Efectivamente, éste reivindica el control sobre un territorio en nombre de la nación. Al mismo tiempo, la nación es producida y reproducida en términos del mismo territorio. Este proceso es una constante en el nacionalismo catalán, desde sus inicios hasta el presente. Además, en el caso del nacionalismo conservador, se realiza un esfuerzo muy claro para situar geográficamente la esencia de la nación catalana en ciertos lugares y zonas rurales del país. En el contexto actual, caracterizado por la compresión del espacio y del tiempo, las bases territoriales del nacionalismo catalán no se han visto alteradas considerablemente, aunque ciertas tendencias podrían minar la primacía de la identidad nacional a largo plazo.
The main objective of the thesis is to investigate the importance of the territorial bases of Catalan nationalism, and, above all, the process by which the nation comes to be defined in territorial terms. We might refer to this process as the territorial production and reproduction of the nation, or national territorial socialisation. Thus, the thesis offers a chronological study of this process in the case of Catalan nationalism, from its beginnings in the 19th century until present times, characterised by what we might call globalization.
Within this overall objective, the thesis defines nationalism as a movement and ideology that makes claims in the name of the nation. One of the most important claims is that the nation must either have its own state or a high degree of political autonomy. Given that the exercise of such political power is necessarily territorial, nationalism is obliged to control o claim a territory.
The main hypothesis makes the case that rather than merely controlling or seeking to control a given territory, nationalism attaches special meaning to it so that it becomes the national territory. From here, for nationalism, the nation itself comes to be defined in terms of the national territory, so that national identity is derived from that territory. Consequently, nationalist control over territory and the resources and persons contained therein is perfectly justified: the politico-territorial claims in the name of the nation are justified because the nation itself stems from the territory.
On a second plain, from this overall hypothesis, we might derive a second that is based on two premises. Firstly, the construction of the national territory inevitably involves the unification of different places within the overall national spatial hierarchy, which is generally dominated by the capital. At the same time, the resulting national identity is a mixture of identities from different places and areas, that are subsequently amplified to become elements of the national identity of the whole territory. The hypothesis here is that the resulting national identity will reflect existing relations of power within the society in question.
With the aim of putting forward arguments to validate the hypotheses, the thesis is divided into two parts, each one with four chapters, along with an introduction and conclusions. The first part is concerned with general-level questions regarding nationalism, the territorial bases of its relationship with the nation through national identity, and the possible changes that globalization might imply for this relationship. The second part develops theses questions in the context of Catalan nationalism and analyses how the latter has produced and reproduced the Catalan nation territorially throughout the last two centuries.
By way of conclusions, the hypotheses developed in the first part are confirmed in the case of Catalan nationalism. In effect, it claims control over a territory in the name of the nation, while at the same time the nation is produced and reproduced in terms of the territory itself. This process is a constant in Catalan nationalism, from its beginnings until the present day. In addition, in the case of conservative nationalism, there is a clear attempt to situate geographically the essence of the Catalan nation in certain rural places and areas of the country. In the present context, characterised by time-space compression, the territorial bases of Catalan nationalism have not be substantially altered, although certain tendencies associated with globalization might undermine the primacy of national identity in the long run.

xi, 114 p. : ill., maps (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Since 1975, the Spanish autonomous region of Catalonia has been renegotiating its political and cultural place within Spain. The designation and promotion of places within Catalonia as World Heritage Sites-a matter over which regional authorities have competency-provides insights into the national and territorial ideas that have emerged in recent decades. This study of the selection and portrayal of World Heritage sites by Turisme de Cata1unya shows that the sites reflect a view of the region as 1) home to a distinct cultural group, 2) a place with an ancient past, and 3) a place with a history of territorial autonomy. These characteristics suggest that even though many Catalan regionalists seek a novel territorial status that is neither independent of nor subservient to the Spanish state, the dominant territorial norms of the modem state system continue to be at the heart of the Catalan nation-building project.
Committee in Charge: Dr. Alexander B. Murphy, Chair; Dr. Xiaobo Su

This thesis addresses the following question: do proponents and opponents in the linguistic disputes in Catalonia and Flanders prioritise individual or group-oriented rights? The dispute in Catalonia is about the use of languages in the Catalan education system, while the dispute in Flanders is about the linguistic regime in certain municipalities around Brussels. Crucially, both are made of competing normative-laden political arguments. Drawing on interviews and document analysis, the thesis situates the conflicting political arguments within the scholarship on the compatibility between liberalism and nationalism. The central argument of the thesis is that the Catalan and Flemish linguistic disputes occur within liberal nationalism. Proponents in Catalonia and Flanders argue in a form of liberal nationalism that is more nationalist than liberal, although the nationalist dimension is more explicit in Catalonia; opponents in Flanders combine liberal nationalism with classical liberalism; and opponents in Catalonia argue in a form of classical liberalism that relies on liberal nationalist elements. In short, the four positions in the two debates participate in different forms and to different degrees in liberal nationalism. The findings suggest that nationalism is an important factor in making sense of the paradox that the normative consensus on political liberalism does not translate into political consensus in these specific cases. It is hoped that the findings of this thesis will make two main contributions. The first is an explanatory contribution to improve the understanding of the Catalan and Flemish linguistic disputes: the disputes are not between liberals and nationalists, but between liberal nationalists. The second is a theory-building contribution to refine the theoretical debate about individual and group-specific rights: liberal nationalist scholars run the risk of being unable to account for the national attachments many people experience in ‘the real world’ if, in their efforts to build acceptable liberal theories, they circumscribe their defence of national membership to its instrumental role for individual autonomy. In addition, their conceptualisation of nations as bounded and homogeneous seems to be built upon flimsy empirical grounds.

This thesis examines the strategy employed by the Catalan nationalist movement in the late 1980s and 1990s to secure a greater role for sub-national authorities in the process of European integration. It includes an analysis of the relationship of the Generalitat, the government of the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, and particularly, Convergencia i Unio, the centre-right Catalan party in power since 1980, with the various actors and institutions central to the process of European integration. Thus, the Catalan nationalist movement has pursued a dual strategy to consolidate its participation in the process of European integration based on the one hand on a co-operative regionalist strategy and on the other, a bilateral nationalist strategy. A close examination of this dual strategy would suggest that there is a clear disenchantment among Catalan nationalists with the concept of "Europe of the Regions" and with the EU-wide efforts in the 1990s to secure a greater role for sub-national authorities.

The thesis aimes to demonstrate that the contemporary nationalist movements in advanced capitalist countries are not an accidental occurrence or a coincidence. It looks for ways to explain this nationalist revival by identifying common causal processes, and concentrates on the cases of Scottish and Catalan nationalism. However, it is not possible to identify a single theory which could explain the recent growth of sub-state nationalism in all advanced industrial countries. Therefore, a framework of analysis is suggested which aims to replace the classical Marxist model of base - superstructure relations with a triangular model of civil society, state and economy, which does not assume deterministic relationship between the three constructs. Rather than seeing political action as determined by economic structures, the framework concentrates on the changing relationships between state, civil society and economy, and examines political action in the light of these processes. Within this framework, the revival of Scottish and Catalan nationalism is analysed in a historical perspective. It is argued that in each case, the constellation of relationships and processes which characterise advanced capitalist society lead to a politicisation of. national identity. How the people become politicised, and what the result of nationalist mobilisation is, depends on specific historical circumstances.

This project examines questions of national identity and democracy in television through the analysis of the production processes of audience discussion programmes. The study of television debates, as public spaces through which members of particular communities discuss topics of common concern, shed some light on two different questions. On the one hand, this project explores whether the (re)construction of national and cultural identity intervenes in the process of programme-making within stateless nations. On the other hand, audience discussion programmes are examined to assess whether they can function as democratic spheres of social representation in the media. These two strands of research are developed through ethnographic insights into two television debates: Scottish Women - produced by the commercial company Scottish Television (STV), and La Vida en un Xip - transmitted through the. Catalan public television channel TV3 and produced by the production company DCo.S.A. A comparative study of these two programmes and their respective broadcasting contexts is provided. Also, the distinctive political status of Scotland and Catalonia within their respective states - Britain and Spain - and the European and international contexts, is examined in relation to the media. The current debates concerning nationalism, the nation and national identity are discussed on the basis of culture as the essential element of the nation-building process. This study explores the process of cultural identity fonnation in Scotland and Catalonia and the role of their respective media structures as potential actors in the (re)construction of collective identities. Thus, the analysis of television production is regarded as a key instrument with which to assessh ow this medium intervenesi n such processes. Audience discussion programmes are examined as television formats with the potential for providing a democratic public sphere in the media. An expansion of the concept of the public sphere, its transformation and its role in contemporary societies is, therefore, essential to develop this argument. Also, the relation between television debates and the community is explored through a survey carried out amongst participants of Scottish Women and La Vida en un Xip. This work provides media studies with some keys to evaluate the role of television debates in the delicate political make-up of two nations without a state, Scotland and Catalonia. Questions of national and cultural identity are crucial to the policy-making of their respective broadcasting, industries. Yet, such questions are difficult to distinguish and define in their programming. The comparative analysis of the two case studies reveals that every person involved in television making reflects to a certain extent his/her own perceptions of the country, and therefore, television debates mirror the ambiguities that may lie behind them. This study provides some clues to reformulate the concept of the 'public sphere' on the basis of a 'dissection' of television production procedures. The findings also reveal the economic, political and social criteria that develop audience discussion programmes into spheres of entertainment rather than rational communicative environments in which a public sphere could function. The concepts of national identity and the public sphere are framed in the context of contemporary societies, in which post-modem values are eroding the role and interest of the individual in the political process.

Résumé : L’intégration européenne a changé profondément les dynamiques politiques en Europe. Parallèlement, on a vu un essor du nombre de mouvements régionaux tant politiques qu’économiques. En suivant la logique du principe de subsidiarité, ils ont réclamé plus d’autonomie face à leur État central. Au même moment, les États centraux voyaient leur souveraineté s’éroder par le haut et par le bas. À l’aide du cas de la Catalogne, nous expliquons comment l’Union Européenne offre sans cesse de nouvelles opportunités aux régions qui veulent plus d’autonomie tout en permettant d’éviter les conflits entre ces régions et leur État central en créant une dynamique triangulaire qui permet de voir d’une manière nouvelle la relation État-région. // Abstract : European integration has profoundly changed political dynamics in Europe. Simultaneously, there’s been an increase in the number of regional movement, be they political or economic. Following the subsidiarity principle logic, they asked more autonomy from their central state. At the same time, central states were seeing their sovereignty eroding from the top and the bottom. With the Catalan case study, we explain how European Union offers more and more new opportunities to the regions that want more autonomy while permitting to avoid conflict between these regions and their central states in creating a triangular dynamics that helps to see the state - region relation in a new way.