Mixed feelings: Identities and nationalisations in Catalonia and the Basque country (1980–2015)

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the processes of nationalisation in Catalonia and the Basque Country in the period 1980–2015. It focuses on the competing narratives that Spanish, Catalan and Basque nationalists disseminated and the different ‘spheres of nationalisation’ through which individuals acquired their identities. The study combines the historical analysis of national narratives with survey data to examine the production and reproduction of identities. The research shows the limits of both state-led and sub-state-led nationalisations and underscores the importance of changing historical contexts in determining the social impact of national narratives.

KEYWORDS:

• Nationalism
• nationalisation
• narrative
• Spain
• Catalonia
• Basque country

Notes

1. El País, 15 December 2013.

2. Jesús Eguiguren Imaz, ‘Historias falsas del Plan Ibarretxe’, El País, 1 February 2005.

3. See, for instance, the comments of Felipe González, prime minister and PSOE leader, on Spain’s modernization and Europeanization in El País, 21 April 1993.

4. El País, 16 November 1980; 17 July 1982.

5. Euskobarómetro, May 2006, retrieved from http://www.ehu.eus/documents/1457190/1525260/eb±2006-05.pdf. See also Gara 5 October 2006.

6. 11.9 per cent of Catalans chose both Spanish and Catalan as habitual languages (Secretaria de Política Lingüística del Departament de la Vicepresidència and l’Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya 2009. Barcelona: Institut d’Estadística de Catalunya, 44). Retrieved from http://llengua.gencat.cat/permalink/f08fcd8f-5381-11e4-8f3f-000c29cdf219.

7. Survey by the Centre d’Estudis d’Opinió. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/Usuario/Downloads/Dossier_de_premsa_-746%20(3).pdf.

8. Luis Moreno, http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2014/10/13/an-increase-in-those-in-catalonia-with-an-exclusive-catalan-identity-has-strengthened-claims-for-secession-from-spain/.

9. El País, 2 October 2012.

10. La Vanguardia, 27 November 2012.

11. The New York Times, 24 September 2012.

12. El País, 10 October 2012.

13. El Mundo, 24 November 2013; Eldiario.es, 26 February 2014.

14. V Informe sobre la situación de los servicios sociales en Euskadi, Consejo Vasco de Servicios Sociales, marzo de 2016. Retrieved from https://www.irekia.euskadi.eus/uploads/attachments/8350/V_Informe_CVSS.pdf?1467805283.

15. El Mundo, 17 November 2009; Marca, 17 September 2011.

16. Gara, 8 September 2011.

17. El País, 9 September 2011.

18. ABC, 17 July 2010; El País, 9 September 2011.

19. Gara, 11 July 2010; El País, 8 March 2012.

20. Gara, 8 August 2010.

21. Gara, 8 August 2010.

22. ABC, 17 September 2009.

23. Kantar Media, ‘Boletín Mensual de Audiencia de Televisión’, December 2010 and December 2014.

24. Diario Vasco, 29 June 2012.

25. Kantar Media, ‘Boletín Mensual de Audiencia de Televisión’, December 2010 and December 2014.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the MINECO-funded project HAR2014–51956-P and the Research Group IT-708–13.