Blocked Articulation and Nationalist Hegemony in Catalonia

Abstract

This article focuses on the representation of preferences with regards to language policy in Catalonia. By comparing social surveys produced by a variety of organizations with its own data, this paper demonstrates that there is a substantial gap between the political preferences of significant segments of the general population of Catalonia and the political preferences of their representatives at the Parliament of Catalonia. In particular, the language policy implemented by the Catalan elites is not consistent with the preferences of Castilian-speaking working-class citizens. The article identifies two mechanisms of ‘blocked articulation’ which serve to impede the representation of the preferences of these voters in the region's representative institutions. These mechanisms are: (1) the under-representation of Castilian-speakers in the region's representative institutions; and (2) the partial assimilation of elected Castilian-speakers into the attitudes and preferences of the Catalan-speaking, hegemonic fraction of the political establishment.

Keywords:

• Language
• Catalonia
• Spain
• nationalism

Notes

The five main political forces with consistent representation in the Catalan Parliament (and in the Spanish Congreso de Diputados) have been, from left to right: the ex-communist and eco-socialist Iniciativa per Catalunya (IC); the social-democratic Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC-PSOE); the ‘radical’ nationalist Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC); the conservative and ‘moderate’ nationalist Convergència i Unió (CiU); and the Spanish-right Partido Popular (PP). In every regional election since the devolution of powers in 1980, the two political formations with the most votes and most representatives have been CiU and the PSC. From 1980–2003, CiU governed the region; between 2003 and 2010 it was governed by the so-called tri-partit, consisting of the PSC, in coalition with the ERC and IC; and, since 2010, it has been governed again by CiU.

Primary and secondary school teachers of social sciences, humanities, and language (168), local politicians (131), and parliamentarians (56).

In forthcoming research, including a new wave of interviews with Catalan political elites, we intend to bring this comparison up to date.