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Abstract
The emergence of the school of Critical Terrorism Studies has been attributed to the lack of contextualisation of research on terrorism, primarily, the virtual absence of the state and its role in instigating, funding or promoting terrorism. While this is a much needed development, this article employs the Basque case in order to demonstrate that the dualism of analysis (terrorists versus the state) is not critical enough. What it overlooks is the role that civil societies can play inside that dichotomy by rejecting or upholding violent methods for the satisfaction of political demands.
Acknowledgment
I am immensely grateful to the three anonymous reviewers and to Dr. Faye Donnelly for their invaluable comments and criticisms.
Notes
1. Anonymous interview with a cadre of the Ministry of the Interior, Madrid, 4 November 2004 (see also Iribarren Citation1998, p. 239; Mees Citation2003, p. 115).
2. The wars (1833–1839 and 1872–1876) were named ‘Carlist’ due to a controversy that broke out in the Spanish crown. King Ferdinand VII wanted to be succeeded by his daughter Isabel, even though succession in Spain could only take place by a male heir to the throne. Don Carlos, Isabel's brother, counted with the support of the traditionalists whereas his sister had attracted the attention of the liberals as well as that of France and Britain. The Basque Country experienced most of the violence and, as a result, the wars have been termed by several authors as the ‘Basque Civil Wars’ (see Watson Citation2008, p. 48; Heiberg Citation1989, p. 37).
3. At the time, many intellectuals supported this trend. Miguel de Unamuno, for example, considered the Basque language to be an obstacle to human progress. See Mees (Citation2003, p. 12).
4. Other intellectuals, like Manuel de Larramendi and Lopez de Isasti, who wrote before Arana, had also focused extensively on the principle of nobility, transfusing racial characteristics in their discourse. In his writings, Larramendi attacked those members of the peasant aristocracy and the urban bourgeoisie because they were rich and powerful, which for him was synonymous to moral tarnishing. As Heiberg notes, Larramendi became ‘the ideologue of small landholder and the tenant farmer’, while the traditional, rural, Basque life, ‘governed by the values of austerity, social harmony and egalitarianism in social relations was, for Larramendi, the original Basque in a state of grace’ (Heiberg Citation1989, pp. 33–34).
5. In the Ikurriña (the Basque flag), for instance, which was designed by Arana, the red background reflects the blood of the historical battles and struggles; the green represents the Basque traditions and spirit of community, and is associated with the Tree of Gernika – the place where historical local representatives met and Spanish monarchs swore allegiance to the Basque ‘fueros’; finally, ‘both red and green were represented in submission to the purity of the white cross, with religion, of course, forming an integral part of Arana's sacramental nationalism’ (Watson Citation2008, p. 75).
6. It literally translates as ‘to do’.
7. Figures from different sources vary: according to the Basque government, the abstention reached 55.4% (http://www9.euskadi.net/q93TodoWar/eleccionesJSP/q93Contenedor.jsp?menu=li_2_1_1&opcion=a&idioma=c). Fusi and Palafox (Citation2003), on the other hand, report a 46.7% abstention.
8. The term refers to the lack of any sort of opposition to the organisation's tactics.
9. The Pact of Lizarra. The document called for the continuation of negotiation without the exclusion of any of the implicated parties, even though direct mention of ETA was avoided in the document. Furthermore, the agreement defined the Basque conflict as a purely political one, it called for the continuation of agenda-less negotiations for the resolution of the conflict and, more crucially, it recognised the sovereignty of the citizens of the Basque Country. See Mees (Citation2003, pp. 139–141).
10. See also interview no. 39, in the same volume, p. 79.
11. Some have even claimed that as long as the decision is made by the Basque nation alone, they would be ready to accept whichever type of regime.
12. It was now made up of journalists, academics and moderate nationalists as well as state-party councillors and politicians.
13. Interview with Gorka Espiau, Deputy Director of Elkarri, Bilbao, 22 November 2004.
