Managing Diversity in Spanish Society: A Practical Approach

Abstract

This paper examines the main elements of Spanish diversity management and specifically its philosophy. It defends the argument that Spain follows a practical philosophy. ‘Practical philosophy’ refers to a way of managing diversity which is not based on established and preconceived ideas, projected by its own social construction such as French republicanism or British multiculturalism, but rather on questions and answers generated by the practice of governance of diversity. The Spanish practical philosophy is neither universalistic nor closed by rigid theoretical principles. At this point, the problem emerges when this context acts as a restraint for proactive policies, since it is based on an identity, a history and a structure that impede innovation and change. The first section of the paper describes the Spanish diversity management framework, by focusing on the identity, the historical and the structural contexts. The second section, analyses three main policy realms – education, labour market and political rights policy realms – applying the framework discussed in the first section. Finally, I present an outline of the basic elements of the Spanish ‘practical philosophy’ of diversity management.

Keywords:

• Citizenship
• Diversity
• Integration
• Multiculturalism
• Multinationalism
• Practical Philosophy
• Spain

Acknowledgements

This paper summarises the main findings of the Spanish case study of the European Project EMILIE – A European Approach to Multicultural Citizenship: Legal, Political and Educational Challenges. The research project was funded by the European Commission Research DG, Sixth Framework Programme (2006–2009). I would like to thank J. Zaragoza, Emilie research assistant, for his help in the writing of this paper.

Notes

1. Important in this context is the new Estatut (voted for in a referendum by the citizens of Catalonia on 16 June 2006 and by 90 per cent of the Catalan Parliament) as the first legal framework that speaks about immigration in terms of necessities and claims of competencies.

2. Law on the Rights and Freedoms of Aliens 14/2003 of 20 November (Ley Orgánica 14/2003, de 20 de noviembre, de Reforma de la Ley Orgánica 4/2000, de 11 de enero, sobre derechos y libertades de los extranjeros en España y su integración social, modificada por la Ley Orgánica 8/2000, de 22 de diciembre).

3. Spanish Constitution: Article 13.1. “Aliens in Spain shall enjoy the public freedoms guaranteed by the present Part, under the terms to be laid down by treaties and the law.”

4. The principle is conditioning the voting rights of immigrants in Spain, to the rights received by the Spanish emigrants in their receiving countries.

5. The first and only reform of the Spanish Constitution since its approval consisted in changing Article 13.2 as a consequence of the approval in 1992 of the Maastricht Treaty. Then Article 13.2 is as follows: “Only Spaniards shall have the rights recognised in Article 23, except in cases established by treaty or by law concerning the right to vote and the right to be elected in municipal elections, and subject to the principle of reciprocity” (this text includes the first constitutional reform adopted on 27 August 1992; which added the words ‘and the right to be elected’ to the paragraph).

6. The schooling of children of irregular immigrants is based on the UN's International Convention on Rights of the Child ratified by Spain.

7. Following the theory of goods applied to policies for managing immigration, Zapata-Barrero (2002, pp. 85–87) argues that the properties of education are symbolic, collective and heterogeneous. We can say that the symbolic and collective properties are followed in Spain, but that the heterogeneity of the good is still on the political and social agenda. The homogeneity/heterogeneity depends on the interpretation. A good is homogeneous when there is no discussion about its value, and a good is heterogeneous when not everybody values the primary good in the same way.

8. See, among others, Aguado and Malik (2001), Colectivo Amani (2007), Etxeberria (2002), Muñoz (1997).

9. In spite of Article 32 which states that “there shall be no discrimination on the basis of use of either of the two languages”, the lack of knowledge of Catalan is mentioned explicitly as reducing equal opportunity and provoking discrimination (Generalitat de Catalunya 2005, p. 32).

10. See Article 138 of the Estatut for the new competences Article 42.6 more explicitly states that “the public authorities shall take the necessary measures to establish a system for receiving immigrants, and shall promote policies to guarantee recognition and effectiveness of their rights and obligations, equality of opportunity and the services and assistance that will facilitate their social and economic accommodation and their participation in public affairs” (see also Parliament of Catalonia 2006).

11. See http://www.gencat.cat/benestar/societat/convivencia/immigracio/acollida/index.htm

12. The National Immigration Pact (which is still in the consultation process) is an agreement between governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in Catalonia on how to manage migration related diversity. See also: http://www.gencat.net/benestar/societat/convivencia/immigracio/pni/consultiva/index.htm

13. The Charter for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in the City, signed by the City of Barcelona, establishes in its Article II the principles of equality of rights, and of no discrimination for all those who live in the signatory cities, irrespective of their nationality. It states that “these rights are guaranteed by the municipal authorities, without any discrimination on the grounds of color, age, sex or sexual orientation, language, religion, political opinion, national or social origin, or level of income”. The charter can be found at http://www.oficinanodiscriminacio.com

14. “Los inmigrantes quieren votar”, El País, 19 May 2007; “Sindicatos y ONGs reclaman el derecho al voto para los inmigrantes”, El País, 20 February 2008; see Parliamentary Proposition to extend the right to vote in municipal elections to foreign legal residents by the Parliamentary Groups of the Socialist Party and Izquierda Unida-Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (Green United Left Party), 16 August 2006; Parliamentary Proposition of January 2006 (debated 21 February) in order to advance in the recognition of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate for the foreign citizens in Spain.

15. On its establishment, in 1995, the Forum for the Social Integration of Immigrants (Foro para la Integración de los Inmigrantes) was defined as a “body of a consultative nature, with capacity to issue reports and recommendations” related to the social integration of immigrants “and to adopt agreements on its own initiative or by a nonbinding consultation with the Administration”.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ricard Zapata-Barrero

Dr Ricard Zapata-Barrero is associate professor of political theory at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. His research interests explore contemporary issues of liberal democracy in the contexts of diversity, in particular, the relationship between democracy, citizenship and immigration. He is Director of the GRITIM (Interdisciplinary Research Group on Immigration) and the Master Programme on Immigration Management at UPF. He is a Partner of the recently funded EU 7th Framework, 18-country ACCEPT project: Tolerance, Pluralism and Social Cohesion: Responding to the Challenges of the 21st Century in Europe (7th Framework Programme, European Commission) and main researcher in Project Fronteras, funded by the Ministry of Innovation and Science. He regularly contributes to media and has served on a number of commissions and government committees. For more information see http://dcpis.upf.edu/~ricard-zapata/