Catalonian and Basque nationalism

parkhead_rfb · Catalonian and Basque nationalism

wrote this myself and to be honest its a rushed and fairly poor effort, feel free to tear it to pieces Laughing

Critically evaluate the role of nationalist movements in the political systems of one state of your choosing.

Boundaries surrounding nations and nation states are inevitably controversial. This is due to the fact that although there may be historical and practically reasons for their definition they are effectively designed by man and are therefore changeable and open to dispute. Spain is one such nation where the boundaries are seen as controversial and are hotly disputed. Although officially recognised, in international terms, as a sovereign state, nationalist movements do exist in Spain which wish to see those boundaries redrawn and two new nation states emerging as well as nationalist movements which wish to see the boundaries remain for the time being but for more powers of the state to be transferred. These movements spring from the Catalonian and Basque regions. As Spain is a complex system of government with variations in autonomy across the various regions in Spain it is perhaps best to concentrate on both the Basque and Catalonia separately when discussing the role of nationalist movements, this is also helpful as differing types of nationalism have emerged from both regions.

Before examining the cases of both Catalonian and Basque nationalism, however, it is first of all necessary to make clear the distinction between nation and state as this is crucial to our understanding of both regions types of nationalism. Where as people may speak of the Spanish nation as if it where one entity, strictly speaking this is not the case. Although Spain is a unified state, it is not a unified nation state. Despite the fact that the terms nation and state have become interchangeable in terms of common usage McCrone makes two important distinctions between the two (McCrone, 2000).

The state is defined, by McCrone, as essentially the source of power within a geographical area. The state will operate within that territory as the exclusive fount of all power, a unified fiscal system, a single national language and a unified legal system (McCrone, 2000). A nation, however, has been described by Weber as ‘a community of sentiment which would find adequate expression only in a state of its own and which thus normally strives to create one’ (McCrone, 2000). As a further classification of a definition of the term nation it is useful to look at Anderson’s idea of nations as an ‘imagined political community’. For Anderson a nation:
“Could be defined as being an imagined communion of people with finite territorial boundaries, it implies sovereignty and self determination of its members and the community is viewed as deep and horizontal comradeship” (McCrone, 2000, pp.89).
It is important that these two terms are defined from the outset as it is effectively the power struggle between nation and state which defines nationalism in both Catalonia and the Basque. Guibernau has attempted to help us clarify these power struggles further by arguing that the level of nationalism will be defined by four factors. It is argued that political dependency, limited or frequently non existent access to power, restricted or absent financial powers and a restricted ability to promote a nations language and culture (Guibernau, 2002). Guibernau’s idea that the type and level of nationalism depends on such factors has also been echoed by Berlin, perhaps in clearer terms when he states that:
“Nationalism springs, as often as not, from a wounded or outraged sense of human dignity, the desire for recognition” (Berlin, 1996 pp.252 quoted in Guibernau, 2002 pp. Cool

It is Guibernau’s framework then which shall be used when attempting to explain the types of nationalism which have appeared in the Catalan and Basque regions.

The region of Catalonia can be seen as a distinct cultural entity as far back as the 13th century with the development of its own structures, culture and language (Weiss, 2002). Catalonia is an area to the north east of Spain with a current population of around six million and with a capital city, Barcelona (Weiss, 2002).
After the Spanish succession war of 1702-1705, however, Catalonia was amalgamated into the newly unified Spanish State (Weiss, 2002). Although it was given regional autonomy in 1931 after the fall of Dictator Rivera the Spanish civil war and the emergence of Franco’s dictatorship led to Catalonia once again being taken totally into a Spanish unitary system. Under Franco’s regime Catalan culture, and in particular its language, were severely repressed. The 1950’s also saw greater levels of migration into Catalonia from other areas of Spain which had less of an industrial base. These factors lead to a greater awareness and politicisation of the Catalonian people in terms of politically defining themselves as Catalan (Weiss, 2002).

Although it is clear then that Catalonia has a historical and long maintained history of being distinctive to Spain Catalonia is different, to the Basque for example, in that it has shifted towards a type of civil nationalism whilst maintaining its ethnic origins in terms of the importance of the Catalan language etc. Jordi Pujol, who was Catalan president from 1980 to 2003, has defined a Catalan as being ‘Everyone who lives and works in Catalonia and has the wish to be so and feels tied to the land is Catalan. In many ways this can be compared to the Scottish Nationalist Parties mode of civic nationalism where as well as maintaining the importance of Scottish language and culture they do not base the idea of being Scottish solely on the basis that a person must be historically linked to these ethnic traits. The fact that both civic and ethnic strands of Catalan nationalism can live side by side is helped by the fact that many immigrants into the region readily and easily learn the Catalan language, as well as the fact that surveys have shown that Catalans tend to feel a duel identity of both Spanish and Catalan (Herranz, 1998). Within the Spanish constitution it is also recognised that Spain consists of multiple nations and regions but still claims the indissoluble unity of the Spanish state.

In terms of its current political situation Catalonia’s position in Spain is also compared to Scotland’s position within the United Kingdom. Catalonia’s position within the Spanish state as we know it today came about after the end of Spain’s period as a dictatorship with the death of Franco and the emergence of the Spanish constitution in 1978. This then lead in 1979 to Catalonia being granted status as a separate nation but still a part of the Spanish state. Catalonia was to have recognition of its language, its own president and its own government. The powers held between the Catalonian government and the central government, however, are a complex mix.
The Catalan government holds powers over areas such as agriculture, culture and communications in areas such as education, health and justice powers are shared by central government. The Catalan government does not hold powers to collect taxes, however, these are collected at central level and then Catalonia is allocated a set percentage, this percentage was 15% in 1993 and currently sits at 30% (Weiss, 2002). This substantial increase can perhaps be used to show the significant power which Catalonian political parties are thought to have at central level also (Guibernau, 2002). It is also interesting to not that despite foreign policy being decided at central level the Catalan authorities have been allowed to open offices abroad, a type of pseudo foreign embassy (Weiss, 2002). It is also curious to note that unlike many nationalist movements Catalan nationalism has never for any significant period verged towards either extreme left or right wing politics. Asides from small periods it is fair to say that the majority of Catalonian nationalism has expressed it’s self in a slightly conservative type political outlook

From 1980 to 2006 the dominating nationalist party in Catalonia has been the Convergence party. The convergence party have formed with the unity party to form the also largely dominant coalition, the CiU. The leader of the convergence party, Pujol, was also president from 1980 to 2003. The CiU is a conservative/ nationalist coalition which supports free market policies it does not, however, call for total independence for Catalonia instead calling for as much power as possible to be devolved to the region; Pujol himself has expressed loyalty to Spain although there are some within his party that do call for independence.

Catalonia then it has been argued can be held up as a very successful form of political devolution. Guibernau has stated that Catalonia is ‘thriving both culturally and economically’ as well as the fact that “decentralisation in Catalonia, far from fostering uncompromising or extreme nationalism, has in fact opened channels for participation that have improved both the Catalan economy and the quality of life in the region (Guibernau, 1997, pp30 quoted in Weiss, 2002, pp7). In what way, however, can we sum up the role of nationalism in Catalonia as a whole?

It is certainly the case that Catalonia has managed a much more peaceful form of nationalism than other parts of the world. This can, as already has been discussed, be perhaps best explained by the mix of civic and ethnic nationalism that has been dominant in Catalonia. Civic in that those who may not have been born in the region are accepted as equal citizens and Catalonians and ethnic in that despite an open Catalonian membership the region still attaches a high level of importance to its language and culture. The civic element of Catalonian nationalism has also led to greater political involvement at all levels and although these are generally coupled with calls for greater autonomy the fact that Catalonia is significant at central level has led to a decrease in support for more extreme nationalism. It is also important that this language and culture has been recognised by the current central Spanish state and no attempts have been made to repress it. In essence then Catalonian nationalism can be termed a type of neo-nationalism.

The reasons for this peaceful type of neo-nationalism can perhaps best be explained by referring once again to Guibernau’s idea of the four factors relating to the power struggles between nations and states. For the first two factors, political dependency and access to power it can be seen that Catalonian nationalism is relatively satisfied. The fact that the main Catalonian parties see Catalonia’s interests as best served by remaining part of the Spanish state show that it does feel that politically it depends on Spain. The fact that Catalonia has fully taken part in central Spanish politics further emphases this neo-national type of Catalonian nationalism with Catalonia often holding significant sway at central level. The latter points of Guibernau’s ideas, however, do show a slightly different side to the normally compliant form of Catalonian nationalism. Although at present the Catalonian language and its culture are protected by law under Franco’s regime political resistance did begin to emerge in relation to his suppression of the language and culture, showing that perhaps under different circumstances Catalonian nationalism could take a different , and more radical form. In terms of the absence of financial powers this is the most significant area of Catalonian political resistance to the Spanish state with calls for greater autonomy in this respect. What these calls for greater financial autonomy and the resistance to the suppression of Catalonian culture under Franco show us is that Catalonian nationalism is not inherently compliant and neo-nationalist and that under certain circumstances it does have the potential to evolve into what could be perhaps considered more radical forms of nationalism.

This type of nationalism is not reciprocated across the whole of Spain, however, and this can be seen by examining nationalism in the Basque region of the Spanish state.

The Basque region of the Spanish state which is to be found to the north east of Spain is, like Catalonia, a culturally and linguistically distinct area of Spain with its language Euskara, claimed to be the oldest in Europe. It is made up of seven provinces with four being within the Spanish state and three in France, each province has its own capital city. The Basque country does have historical precedent in terms of a degree of political power in that pre 1876 the Basque had its own political and financial powers; it also did not come under the jurisdiction of the central armed forces. These powers were then removed, however, by the Spanish state and this remained the case almost effectively up until the death of Franco. After the fall of Franco and the new Spanish constitution in 1978, however, the Basque was once again given political powers after the Gernika statute despite the fact that the referendum on Gernika was boycotted by around 40% of the electorate. This statute gave the Basque a system of parliamentary government with its own president and powers in areas such as agriculture, industry and policing as well as certain powers over taxation. The statute also gives the Basque powers over its culture as well as both the Basque and Spanish language being recognised as official languages.

The largest party in the Basque is the Basque nationalist party or the Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea in Basque. The nationalist party wishes to see greater autonomy for the Basque region within Spain and participates in Spanish politics as well as opposing the use of violence unlike the main nationalist party in Catalonia the nationalist party is relatively left of centre in its outlook. Despite the nationalist party wishing to remain a part of the Spanish state, however, the emergence of the Ibarretxe plan has seen a dramatic attempt to gain further powers.

Under the plan, the two million people in this northern region would remain Spanish citizens but would be divided into two overlapping categories of Basques, defined as "citizens" and "nationals" (Giles, 2003). The plan did not spell out the different rights of the two categories but it seemed possible that, for example, it might lead to Spaniards who move to the Basque country being barred from voting in some elections. The Basque regional government would gain further powers, and the Basque court system would be largely separated from the Spanish one (Giles, 2003). The plan would give the Basque regional government the right to call referendums, opening the door to a possible future vote on independence, while removing a Spanish government right to suspend the regional government's powers. It is clear then that in Basque even those parties which are considered moderately nationalist are far more radically nationalist than those parties in Catalonia. This certainly seems to be agreed by other Spanish parties as the Ibarretxe plan was described by Spanish newspaper El Mundo as being the:
“equivalent to the unilateral declarations of Slovenia and Croatia which ended with the disintegration of Yugoslavia." (Giles, 2003).
The Ibarretxe plan is not the beginning and the end of more extreme nationalism in the Basque, however. Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA as it is more commonly known is a paramilitary group which aims to see the total independence for the Basque and a socialist state created. Founded in 1959 in opposition to the oppression of the Basque language and culture by the Franco regime ETA has had an estimated 800 killings attributed to it and its violence has come in the forms of bombings, shootings and kidnappings. In a similar fashion to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) by the 1980’s ETA had begun to see its ends being achieved by military means alone as unlikely this then lead to the production of various ceasefires with the hope of ensuring a political solution, one such ceasefire has only recently been announced. Politically ETA is represented, like the PIRA with Sinn Fein in Ireland, by Batasuna. Although Batasuna are a relatively small party, gaining between 10% and 20% of the vote in the Basque in 2003 they were banned by the Spanish government due to alleged links with ETA although Batasuna themselves deny there are such links. In place of Batasuna a new party, Aukera Guztiak was formed, although this was also subsequently banned. Although ETA enjoyed highly significant home and international support in the Franco era this support has waned since with support for total secession also having arguably waned. A poll in the Basque country in May 2004, found that a significant number of Basques supported some or all of ETA's goals. (33% favored Basque independence, 31% federalism, 32% autonomy, 2% centralism.) However, few supported their violent methods with 87% agreeing that it was possible to defend political aspirations without resorting to violence (Diego, 2005).

Having covered then the main types of Basque nationalism it is necessary to evaluate the role of these movements. To do this it is once again helpful to refer back to the ideas and theories surrounding nationalism and nationalist movements. Certainly Basque nationalism is a type of ethnic nationalism, it is quite different from Catalonian nationalism, however, in the respect that it does not offer a type of civic nationalism for those who are not of Basque origin. This can clearly be seen in the Ibarretxe plan which, if it had been implemented, would have effectively segregated two types of people living in the area into ethnically Basque and non-ethnically Basque. Historically the Basque nationalist party also refused to allow membership to those not of Basque origin with an additional curious not being that Basque football club Athletico Bilbao, despite playing in the Spanish football league, do not allow non Basque players. This type of nationalism is similar to that used in Austria and Germany where ‘the law of blood’ defines nationality rather than ‘the law of the soil’. Basque nationalism is perhaps best defined then as a type of Irredentist nationalism rather than civic or peripheral.

It is certain then that for the people of the Basque their region fills Anderson’s criteria for what constitutes a nation, the extent of this nationalism and the reasons for it, however, are slightly more difficult to clarify. Going by Guibernau’s ideas of what factors effect the level of nationalism can perhaps help us in this respect. Certainly the Basque region is not economically dependent on the Spanish state given the fact that it is such a prosperous area with GDP per capita being 20.6% which is higher than the European average (Diego, 2005). It is true to say, however, that Basque parties have been less compliant with central Spanish politics and although the main party does still wish to remain within the Spanish state it has caused tension between the central and Basque regions, which can be seen with the Ibarretxe plan. The main driving force and role within Basque nationalism, however, does seem ultimately to be ethnic. The fact that Basques view themselves as a separate culture and historic identity seems to be the main force running through all forms of its nationalism and this does seem to be the main role of Basque nationalism, to protect that ethnic identity and procure as much political power for it as possible. Although this has resulted in violent movements to gain full independence this is not supported by the majority of those within the Basque despite their feelings of ethnicity being so high.

Overall then it does seem that for Both the Basque and Catalonia the main drives behind their nationalist movements are as much political power to be devolved as possible but to still remain within the Spanish state. Although it is important to make distinctions between the two types of nationalism in terms of the fact that Catalonian nationalism is a more open and civic type of nationlalism, where as Basque nationalism is more closed to that ethnic group. It is also important to differentiate between the political outlook and strength of nationalist movements in Spain. Although Catalonian nationalism is relatively Conservative and quite limited in its Calls Basque nationalism has veered to the left politically and has called for far greater powers to be devolved, even coming into much greater conflict with central government due to this. Basque nationalism is also very distinctive in that it has formed an armed campaign for independence in ETA. Overall then it is true to say that within Spain there are two very different types of nationalism at play in the Basque and Catalonia, one defined by civic nationalism and the wish to see more powers devolved, and the other by a mixture of ethic nationalism which wishes to see power devolved and ethnic nationalism which wishes to see full independence.

azzuri

well first of all, I'd take the wee man wae the sunglasses out! Smile

Abieuan

What about Galicia, parkhead, some of them feel they are our Celtic cousins too, but as they have no language connection left they are shunned by the Celtic League and Congress.
They feel alien in their "State" and unwanted by their family ?

parkhead_rfb

parkhead_rfb

Abieuan

Yes, they were almost members of the Celtic League in the 70's but a small majority excluded them on the language issue. That was a pity as it turned many away and history has been changed by that descision.

You may be able to ask for more info on the celtica.info site or read The Celtic Revolution by Peter Beresford Ellis.

Leathlaobhair

Abieuan

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php...;id=2587&Itemid=1&lang=en