Between logics of deliberation and appropriateness: the discourse and practices of the Catholic Church over the Basque issue

Abstract

This article addresses the way the Catholic Church deliberates and/or contributes to public deliberation over the Basque ethno-territorial conflict. The article proceeds in three sections. Section 2 positions the piece within theoretical debate about Rissian and institutionalist approaches to the deliberative ideas and practices conveyed by the Church. Section 3 sums up the main results of the empirical research undertaken, making a distinction between the contribution of the Church to public debate over conflict-resolution and the way it has deliberated over the ethno-territorial issue within its own institutional apparatus. We observe the primacy of logics of appropriateness on the part of the Church, thus reducing deliberative practices to an active but marginalized status. The concluding section discusses the empirical and theoretical implications of the case study.

Keywords:

• Catholic Church
• ethno-nationalism
• Basque conflict
• deliberation
• peace-making

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Andy Smith, Patrick Quantin, Boris Hauray and the referees of Critical Policy Studies for their comments, as well as the the European Commission for its support under a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship.

Notes

1. 1. Weithman adds a distinction between a restricted and a broad definition of deliberation. For the restricted approach, deliberation would take place primarily in governmental processes rather than in unitary associations. For those holding a more expansive view, public deliberation includes political discussion in civil society. Religion can play a role in both of these conceptions. Their provision of social services gives churches a measure of expertise on certain policy issues. More generally, churches contribute ‘to public political debate, to the perceived legitimacy of governmental processes, to the enlargement of sentiments and to realized citizenship’ (Weithman 2002, p. 70).

2. 2. Weithman relies here on Verba et al. (1995).

3. 3. Should an agreement have been reached between the three parties, an original copy would have been given to the Vatican for safe keeping. PSE-EE finally preferred entrusting it to the Company of Jesus (Murua 2010, pp. 67, 133).

4. 4. It is possible to see from the discussion at Loyola certain elements of a deliberation, especially the dawning of a convergence of positions, with a mediation role for the PNV between the PSE-EE and Batasuna. However, the logic of power struggles led to eventual failure.

5. 5. ‘Those who stress the need for democratic politics to concern itself first and foremost with the recognition of the legitimacy and validity of the particular perspectives of historically oppressed segments of the population’ (Dryzek 2002, p. 57).

6. 6. The Elkarri-Lokarri movement (which contains a significant presence of committed believers) would be the most significant illustration of this for social movements and Aralar for political parties.

7. 7. The Vatican, which had been more than guarded concerning the Basque issue, was called on – with small success – by the political and religious actors several times in the 1990 and 2000s as a facilitator thanks to its exteriority from the Basque arena and its central hierarchic position in the Church.

8. 8. Since 1790, the diocesan limits correspond to the administrative department that groups together the Basque provinces and Bearn (Itçaina 1997).

9. 9. Interview, Bayonne, 1995.

10. 10. Ibid.

11. 11. Ibid.

12. 12. Interview with a lay-person on the Cultural Commission, Baigorry, 1995.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Xabier Itçaina

Xabier Itçaina is a CNRS Research fellow at the Centre Emile Durkheim, Sciences Po Bordeaux and a Marie Curie fellow (2012–3) at the European University Institute, Florence. His research concerns the politics of Catholicism, social economy and third sector dynamics, and identity politics. Among his publications are: with F. Foret (eds), Modernities in Conflict? Politics of Religion in Western Europe (Routledge 2011); as editor, La politique du lien: Les nouvelles dynamiques territoriales de l’économie sociale et solidaire (Presses Universitaires de Rennes 2010); and Les virtuoses de l’identité: Religion et politique au Pays Basque (Presses Universitaries de Rennes 2007).