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Social‐democratic parties face a dilemma between the universalist ethos of their socialist tradition and the nationalism that they share with the other political actors of the state where they act. In this paper, we examine comparatively the position of the Spanish party Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) and the Catalan party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) on three political debates that pertains to the link between welfare and identity in Spain. We show how these parties experience opposite tensions between nationalism and the universalism of their left‐wing ideology. Whereas ERC calls for a withdrawal from the Spanish system of social security, the PSOE advocates imposing on Catalonia a symmetric form of solidarity with the rest of Spain, despite recognising the region's different identity. Above all, both parties take identity for granted as a pre‐political factor that 'naturally' justifies differential treatment, according to ERC, or equalising federalism, in the case of the PSOE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Various authors have challenged the traditional dichotomy of civic and ethnic nationalism. This paper presents the case study of Catalan nationalism in the Belle Époque. It argues for the usefulness of the lens of 'Inter-Nationalism' to highlight the fluctuating and labile character of nationalism and to move beyond the ascription of civic and ethnic types to certain regions by examining the exchanges between nationalist movements. It presents three areas in which Catalan nationalism in the Belle Époque moved between voluntarist-organic and inclusive-exclusive definitions and practices of nationalism: state organisation, gender and minority inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fronteira: Revista de Iniciacao Cientifica em Relacoes Internacionais is the property of Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, Departmento de Relacoes Internacionais, PUC Minas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Using a historical institutionalist framework emphasizing the importance of transformative events, this paper seeks to explain the sudden emergence of self-determination claims in Hong Kong and their transformation into separatist ones in Catalonia. The paper argues that the inflexibility of the state in addressing moderate demands for regional autonomy has played a major role in the emergence and radicalization of these demands. In Hong Kong, the 1997 Handover from British to Chinese sovereignty was originally presented as an opportunity for self-governance under the principle of "Hong Kong People ruling Hong Kong" and the "One Country, Two Systems" formula. If Hong Kong nationalism was practically unheard of in the early years of the Handover, the unconciliatory attitude of the central government towards moderate demands for the actualization of the autonomy and democratization frameworks vested in Hong Kong's Basic Law has directly contributed to the formation of today's emerging self-determination movement. In Catalonia, the 2010 decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court to annul some articles of the reform to the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and to interpret others narrowly represented a transformative event that took Catalonia onto the pathway of secessionist politics. The secessionist turn was then further fed by the on-going refusal of the central government to negotiate with the Catalan government, notably on the notion of a popular consultation on the political future of the Autonomous Community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent nationalist sentiments affect economic behavior is still an open question. In this paper a study of emerging and competing lottery markets in the same jurisdiction (Catalonia, a Spanish region) is conducted to explore the impact of such nationalistic feelings in the demand for gambling. The use of panel data allows controlling for changing economic and demographic conditions at the province level and their potential effect on the analyzed lottery markets. The results from a difference-in-difference regression analysis indicate that a statistically significant but limited impact of the introduction of the new lottery exists, suggesting that the observed shift in the existing market demand may respond, beyond mere economic determinants, to behavioral biases (e.g. identification feeling with the new lottery). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of Catalan industrial engineers in the making of a stateless nation (within Spain) in the interwar period. After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939), a home rule for Catalonia was established. In this context, the members of the Barcelona Association of Industrial Engineers developed a techno-nationalist program with the double goal of both making technology Catalan and making Catalonia technological. As an alleged 'third class' between the working and ruling classes, industrial engineers sought to use their expertise in scientifically managing the workshop to organize the whole nation. They participated in professional initiatives and official institutions from which they spread the 'factory ideals' beyond the factory, such as efficiency, rationalization and statistical monitoring. This paper focuses on the nationalist and technocratic engagement of two leading (and politically diverging) industrial engineers: socialist Estanislau Ruiz-Ponsetí and liberal Josep M. Tallada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ayer: Revista de Historia Contemporánea is the property of Asociacion de Historia Contemporanea and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the nationalist conflict in Catalonia and how it is lived and experienced by actors within it. It focuses on the people mobilised against independence who see themselves primarily as defenders of the Spanish Constitution and not of Spanish nationalism. Critics of civic nationalism in political theory and Nationalism Studies argue that anti‐nationalist rhetoric tends to be the expression of structural or hegemonic nationalism. Drawing on fieldwork carried out in Barcelona, I look at how the conflict has influenced discourse and language used in everyday life, how participants negotiate their identity, why people do (and do not) get involved in organisations that defend their political ideas, how they see themselves within the conflict and their perceptions of public space and its significance in relation to the constitution. An ethnographic approach explores these issues and discovers that although anti‐independence actors base their mobilisation in nationalism, civic nationalism cannot be reduced to just another form of nationalism. I aim to go beyond critics of civic nationalism to explore how my interlocutors act within and against nationalism, reproducing nationalist discourse in some aspect (boundaries of the nation) in order to challenge it in others (content and relevance of nationalism in everyday life). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the widespread conflation in Europe between populism and nationalism, the Catalan independence movement has commonly been approached as merely a case of nationalism but has been rarely studied by scholars in the field of populism. Drawing on discourse theory, this paper will explore the discursive sequences through which the actors forming the Catalan independence movement organized social relations and constituted their common identity. The objective is to disclose the nature of the discursive dynamics that led to the 2017 independence bid: whether populist, nationalist or both populist and nationalist. Firstly, I will establish a theoretical framework concerning populism, nationalism, and the conditions for the articulation among the two; secondly, I will examine the development of the political discourses within the main Catalan secessionist actors between 2006 and 2017. This study will defend that the Catalan independence movement, as an encompassing hegemonic project, emerged only after the dominant Catalan nationalist discourse shifted towards an articulation of populism with the previous nationalism around the year 2012, with the populist discourse taking predominance until the year 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identity and democracy and, more particularly, national identity and deliberative democracy account for a controversial relationship. However, from a classical deliberative democratic point of view, the controversy over who is the 'we' that needs to stand together in contemporary complex societies settled with the constitution of modern states. In this sense, the main contribution of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, I rebut the analytical appropriateness and conceptual coherence of Habermas' discursive approach to democracy for the case of plurinational societies in contemporary constitutional democracies. A discussion of a test case – Catalonia – demonstrates that this inadequacy renders incoherent the deliberative model regarding one of its most fundamental premises: the equal weight of the principles of law and the principle of democracy. On the other hand, I sustain that the challenge is not about identity but democracy, and more particularly, about the role deliberative democracy is called to play when controversy challenges whether the people of a state do conform to a single people or not. More concretely, I explore the opportunities offered by the systemic turn to sustain a more realistic approach to deliberative democracy regarding its capacity to steer society towards integration in the context of the system of public deliberation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Futuro del Pasado: Revista Electrónica de Historia is the property of Futuro del Pasado: Revista Electronica de Historia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Are secessionisms from and within the EU comparable? What motivates them and to what extent do they pose similar challenges to EU territorial governance? This article addresses these questions by comparing the framing of the British Leave campaign and the Catalan independence movement. Drawing on the FraTerr database and method, the analysis suggests that secessionism from the EU and secessionism within the EU are different political phenomena despite sharing an emphasis on sovereignty and the common goal of breaking-up from an existing polity. Secessionism from the EU is primarily a call for the recovery of lost sovereignty and of classical functions of the state such as border control. Secessionism within the EU invokes sovereignty as the right to external self-determination and adds narratives around a better future and greater democratic quality and social justice. These two types of secessionism pose different challenges to EU territorial governance because the first entails a full rejection of the European project while the latter calls for a review of European multi-level governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the 2017 pro-independence referendum took place in Catalonia, many municipalities changed the names of the streets to commemorate the event. In order to do so, in some cases the names related to the central state were removed, such as those related to the constitution or the king. By performing a frame analysis, this article explores how the majority nationalist parties, which identify themselves with the state, assessed this initiative made by the pro-independence local authorities. The paper thus offers new evidence to the existing literature on majority nationalism, a subject poorly studied in comparison with the total amount of research devoted to peripheral nationalism. On the basis of street naming as a nation-building tool, two are the main empirical contributions: firstly, the representatives of majority nationalism defended the symbols linked to the state as neutral and representative of the whole citizenry, while those of the minority group were framed as partisan and deeply divisive. On the other hand, we stress the importance of the democratic transition and the 1978 constitution as relevant rhetoric resources of the national narrative in contemporary Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called procés (process of independence of Catalonia) has triggered abundant research seeking to analyse what factors explain the Catalan pro-independence movement. In contrast, there is a gap in the literature with regard to the Basque case, which this paper seeks to fill. The prevailing analyses to date have typically considered identity/ethnicity as the key variables to account for the pro-independence movement in the Basque Country. However, this study, seeks to go beyond this approach, to analyse the influence of other more instrumental factors. Based on the 1995-2016 period covered in this paper, the main conclusion is that the identity factor is key to the understanding of the pro-independence movement, but that it is far from being the only one. Our analysis has also showed that both political and economic conjunctural factors are important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Catalonia, fervour for Football Club Barcelona (Barça) goes well beyond sporting success as the team supports the demands of the stateless nation. Much 'more than a club', Barça is a platform for the expansion of a Catalan national consciousness. At a time when Catalonia is at a critical point in its relations with the Spanish state, claiming the right to national self-determination and presenting the possibility of secession, this paper examines how Barça boosts the strength of Catalan nationalist feelings through dynamics characteristic of the football sphere, such as rituals of group belonging, fandom performances of loyalty, the dramatization of rivalries, the elevation of those achieving sporting success to national icons or the strength of feeling provided by the sports ground. Looking at the period 2003-2014, it concludes that Barça is key in advancing claims that Catalonia is a sovereign nation with the right to decide its political future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Haidé: Estudis Maragallians is the property of Biblioteca de Catalunya and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this paper is to examine the factors that have triggered the recent shift from devolution to secession expressed by the Catalan grassroots movement which has been consolidated in the last 5 years or so. This movement stands in favour of the so-called 'right to decide' which specifically demands the right of Catalan citizens to be considered as a 'demos' able to decide upon its political future by means of holding a referendum on the issue. Conflict has emerged as a result of the Spanish state's prohibition to allow for a referendum on that issue. The paper offers an overview of the origins of modern Catalan nationalism by tracing back its roots to Franco's dictatorship and the subsequent transition to democracy. It analyses the main arguments behind the qualitative shift from devolution to secession embodied in the rise of a novel bottom up secessionist movement supporting the idea of holding a referendum on Catalan independence from Spain; so far, strictly forbidden by the Spanish State. The paper considers the impediments to a 'referendum' on Catalan independence founded upon the Spanish Constitution. To conclude, it examines the rise of a novel grassroots civil society movement demanding the right of Catalonia to decide upon its political future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explain the historic importance to Catalan nationalism of the nineteenth-century poet and priest, Jacint Verdaguer. In order to do so, rather than focus on his contribution - and that of the wider cultural revival, the Renaixenca - to the development of the Catalan language as the basis for national political mobilization, this paper argues that we cannot fully understand Verdaguer's importance without reference to his role in constructing a geographical narrative linking nation and territory. At the same time, given that national meanings are always contested, the paper proposes a dialectical approach to nationalism that situates the work of writers within the context of power struggles between social groups. Consequently, Veradguer's centrality to Catalan nationalism is ultimately explained by his role in producing a geographical narrative capable of attracting important sectors of rural Catalonia to the hegemonic project of the industrial bourgeoisie. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses upon the region (nation) of Catalonia, Spain and in particular upon the ways in which Catalan political parties have 'Europeanized' their discourse, viewing Europe both as an alternative institutional channel to promote their objectives and as an example to follow of socioeconomic and political modernization. After reviewing some of the reasons that account for the increased importance of subnationalism in the EU, the paper considers the contours of the Catalan political system. Following this there is a detailed discussion of the ways in which the main political parties in Catalonia employ the issue of European integration in their political rhetoric. By way of conclusion, the paper considers the differing reasons behind each of the parties' position on Catalonia's role within the process of European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite Spain’s neutrality during the First World War, 2000 Spaniards (a thousand of them from Catalonia) fought with the French Foreing Legion. The majority of them were scarcely politicized immigrants living and working in France when the conflict broke out. Catalan separatism used the enlistment of those natives from Catalonia for propaganda purposes. Separatists aimed to internationalize the nationalist cause and sought support from the Allies. The creation of a Catalan Committee of Brotherhood in Barcelona and a Spanish Patronate of Brotherhood in Madrid distorted the life of those combatants. Through the correspondence maintained with one or both organizations the volunteers from Catalonia became aware of their national identity. They realized that modelling their national adscription to the Spanish or the Catalan project could be useful to obtain parcels, with first aid products, food, money and newspapers, from one or both committees. This paper explores this process and shows the instrumentalization of self-identities during the First World War among Spaniard combatants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Under what conditions do secessionist parties advance identity, socioeconomic or political frames for constitutional change? By performing a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) of 93 party manifestos from six Western regions, the results identify a key variable that plays an important role in rhetorical strategies: the governmental status of the party. In linguistically distinctive regions, parties tend to put forward identity frames when in opposition. Instead, being in office is a condition for framing their position in socioeconomic terms. The results concerning political frames are highly complex, although patterns around office holding have also been identified. Hence, the present article shows that office-seeking strategies imply a fundamental change in how these parties frame their claims. Minority nationalist parties take the opportunity of being in office to enhance their credibility as governing parties by downplaying identity issues in favour of a more inclusive and policy-oriented appeal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Universitas Psychologica is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Using the case of FC Barcelona and Catalonia, this paper examines the relationship between national identity, social institutions and political values. Through different methods of qualitative research, we present an intergenerational comparison between age cohorts to capture continuities and discontinuities in the discursive linkage between FC Barcelona and national feelings of belonging. As the context has changed, the identity construction process should have changed in conjunction with it. The results point to how the old cohort tended to use Barça, as an escape valve, intertwined with Catalan nationalism and political freedom. In contrast, the young ones reproduce the old discourse leaving aside those political values formerly attached to the idea of Barça. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Historiography on the phenomenology of nationalisms has often pointed to the importance of myths and symbols in the construction of these political movements, underlining how the past is transfigured and/or particular historical episodes are recast for use in creating a given political discourse in the present. By adopting this viewpoint, the aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of historiographical thinking on the use of myths and symbols in contemporary politics, giving particular attention to how they were brought to bear in the early days of the Catalan nationalist movement. This initial period, covering the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, is of special interest in the case of Catalan nationalism because it was a phase of politicisation marked - much as it was in other nationalist movements across Europe - by a nationalisation of history, a selection of foundation myths and historical milestones, and a crystallisation of the movement's symbols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the interaction between context and individual-level features affect political attitudes? By using the case of Catalonia, a receiver municipality of international and national migration since the fifties, this paper intersects a classic acculturation model and a newly reemerging literature in political science on contextual determinants of political behaviour to analyze how context affects subjective national identity. Results reveal that environment matters. The Percentage of Spain-born population in the municipality is statistically significant to account for variance in the subjective national identity, even after controlling for age, sex, origin, language and left-right orientation and other contextual factors. This conclusion suggests that researchers should not underestimate the direct effect of the environment on feelings of belonging in contexts of rival identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Humanidades (1130-5029) is the property of Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Centro Asociado de Sevilla and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The end of the First World War was a crucial time for nationalist leaders and minority communities across the European continent and beyond. The impact of the post-war spread of self-determination on the redrawing of Eastern European borders and on the claims of colonial independence movements has been extensively researched. By contrast, the international historiography has paid little attention to minority nationalist movements in Western Europe. This article focuses on three regions (Catalonia, Flanders and South Tyrol) that experienced considerable sub-state national mobilization in the interwar period. We aim to understand whether the leaders of Western European minorities and stateless nations shared the same enthusiasm as their anti-colonial and Eastern European counterparts for the new international order that self-determination seemed to foreshadow in the months following the end of the First World War. Because the American President Woodrow Wilson stood out as the most prominent purveyor of the new international legitimacy of self-determination, the article further examines how Western European nationalist movements exploited Wilson's image and advocacy to achieve their own goals. Nationalist forces in Catalonia, Flanders and South Tyrol initially mobilized self-determination and referred to Wilson as a symbol of national liberation, but this instrumentalization of self-determination was not sustained. Large-scale mobilization occurred only in Catalonia, and, even there, it disappeared suddenly in spring 1919. Furthermore, sub-state nationalist movements in Western Europe tended to mobilize self-determination to gain regional autonomy, rather than full independence, thus pursuing internal, not external, self-determination. The willingness of these movements to privilege autonomy over full independence made them more receptive to compromise. Radical forces would become stronger only in the 1930s and largely for reasons not directly connected to the post-war mobilization around self-determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Catalan case is usually depicted in the literature as a typical example of a nation without state with a predominant civic nationalism, where the importance of dual identities tends to generate claims for self-government short of independence. However, the recent evolution of Catalan and Spanish politics shows that independence receives relevant levels of support even among groups expressing some degree of identification with the state identity. This paper aims to fill the gap in this relatively unexplored dimension of Catalan nationalism by analysing the factors that help explain support for independence in Catalonia. The results of the research point to the importance of identity in explaining attitudes towards independence but also that it receives widespread support across Catalan society, suggesting much more complex relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the independence and autonomy movement in Catalonia, Spain, and responds to concepts of nationalism and nations without states in the books "Nations without States" and "The Identity of Nations" and an article in the journal by professor M. Guibernau. It discusses claims of self-government in the context of statehood, emancipatory nationalism and national identity in Catalonia, and support for pro-independence movements in Catalonia.

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between September 2009 and April 2011, around one-half of the Catalan municipalities held unofficial referendums on independence from Spain, in which more than 800,000 citizens took part. However, the participation rates were unevenly distributed across Catalonia. In this paper, using an original data set, we aim to respond to two relevant questions: first, why in some municipalities the referendum took place and in others it did not occur. Second, why did the referendum achieve high rates of turnout in some localities and much lower participation in others. We find that the resources available to the movement, the intensity of the mobilization efforts, the participatory tradition of the municipalities and the size of the nationalist 'sentiment pool' in each locality explain to a great extent the internal variation in nationalist mobilization in Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are the Basques and Catalans the most left-wing societies in Europe? Treating peripheral nationalism and ideology as two orthogonal dimensions, the literature to date has not yet provided a systematic theoretical account of this pattern. In an attempt to fill this gap, this paper explores how nationalism has marked the meaning of ideology in these regions. Contrary to the left, the right has been treated as the opponent of regional devolution. The findings highlight the need to revise the orthogonality assumption often made when employing these two dimensions in the study of public opinion in Catalonia and the Basque Country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

According to the selective exposure theory, individuals are exposed to the media based on their ideological orientations, and they seek messages that match their convictions. This paper proposes to expand the study of selective exposure beyond the left-right cleavage. It does so by exploring the importance of positions on the centre-periphery axis as predictors of media preferences through a logistic regression using data from the latest post-election survey conducted in Catalonia by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research (CIS). The results underscore that there was a clear segmentation of audiences according to national identities: whereas citizens with nationalist inclinations preferred to consume Catalan media, non-nationalists preferred Spanish media. In addition, national identity was the most important explanatory factor for radio and television preferences, as opposed to the written press. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the facts and results of the 2006 autonomous election in Catalonia. After a review of the political context and the campaign, we present and analyze the results at electoral and institutional level and the main reasons behind the stability and change in the electoral behaviour. We finally discuss the implications of the results for the political system at Basque and Spanish levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape is the result of a collective transformation of nature. It is the cultural translation of a society on a particular portion of nature, and this translation is not only material, but also spiritual, ideological and symbolic. In this sense, landscape acts as a centre of meaning and symbolism, and creates a sense of belonging and a territorial identity that is particularly strong in some nations. This paper analyses the relevant role of landscape in the creation of national identity in Catalonia, from a historical and contemporary perspective. The historical perspective analyses this role at the dawn of Catalan nationalism in the late 19th century, and, in this context, stresses the importance of mountainous landscapes in the process of forming the Catalan nation. The contemporary perspective centres on the existence of two current “discourses” linked to the territory and the landscape, the legacy of the two main cultural discourses in nineteenth century Catalonia: the romantic “Modernista” movement and the more realistic, pragmatic “Noucentista” movement. These two discourses enjoyed a peaceful coexistence up until recently, but now, after two decades of nationalist government over a period of great economic development, the inherent contradictions are beginning to emerge and give rise to unprecedented territorial conflicts.This paper sets out to show how landscape, seen as the cultural projection of a society on a certain space, becomes a fundamental element in the creation process of a national identity, in this case the Catalan identity, both in its late 19th century origins and in its present form. In this context, we would like to stress the importance of mountainous landscapes in the formative process of the Catalan nation. Like other nations that began to structure their identity discourse in political and cultural terms at that time, the interpretation and use of the landscape in Catalonia are rooted in readings and meanings of “Modernista” romanticism. However, the equally rhetorical but much more useful “Noucentista” vision soon appeared as a justification for the transformation of the territory. The article charts the course of these two discourses and their singular interaction in Catalonia. The first section shows how the subject of nationalism is approached through political geography and the second section gives an overview of the relationship between landscape and identity. Finally, the epilogue proposes a reading of the contemporary territorial and landscape conflicts in Catalonia that have emerged now that the “Modernista” and “Noucentista” visions have outrun their course of peaceful coexistence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Historia y Politica: Ideas, Procesos y Movimientos Sociales is the property of Departamento De Historia del Pensamiento y de los Moviemientos Sociales y Politicos (Madrid) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article explores how a feminist approach to politics can resonate within a nation-building project in Catalonia against the backdrop of rising transnational anti-feminist right-wing populism in Europe. Feminism and nationalism have often been presented as oppositional, and nationalist struggles have been considered to further patriarchal regimes. However, nation-building can also be an opportunity to think of feminist alternative futures. The article explores the role of feminism in the political project of the pro-independence Catalan left (Esquerra Independentista), and exposes internal tensions and difficulties in aiming to achieve both independence and feminism in an emancipated Catalonia. Esquerra Independentista adopt two distinctive strategies of feminist politics: the promotion of the indivisibility of social, gender and national struggles (independence, socialism, feminism), and an embodied politics that centralises women's political agency as a political tool. However, Esquerra Independentista's proposals for a socialist and feminist future are fragile and limited by internal tensions between the prevalence of masculinist models of doing politics on one hand, and on the other hand, alternative ideas about the strategic importance of class, gender and national oppressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent growth of the Catalan separatist movement is traditionally interpreted as a consequence of the bad economic performance of the region, or rather the whole country. This paper, however, aims to prove that despite the economy's unquestionable role in the intensification of the nationalist conflict there may be other important factors involved. One of them is the case of the central government's loss of credibility and grievances felt by the Catalan people. This may have led to an increase in separatist tendencies. On the other hand, the general political environment can be seen as a determinant of bilateral trade. Th erefore, the bad relations between Catalonia and Spain and the increasing separatism in Catalonia affect negatively the mutual trade links between the region and the rest of the country. However, this effect acts in both directions, as trade diversification and internationalization may also have encouraged separatism. The lack of credibility of the government of Mariano Rajoy and the Popular Party has resulted in responses by the inhabitants of Catalonia which are the completely opposite of those expected by the prime minister and his party. The absence of dialogue from the central government encourages the separatist movement rather than discouraging it, and threats act as a very strong motivator for those who desire an independent Catalan state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on tensions between the governments of Catalonia and Spain, using as a proxy the number of instances of litigations per year between these two bodies brought before the Constitutional Court between 1984 and 2014. On the one hand, descriptive statistics demonstrate that Catalonia is the most conflictive region in Spain. On the other hand, inferential statistics indicate that periods of absolute majority in the Spanish Parliament, the presence of a nationalist government in Catalonia, and funding problems of the Catalan Government tend to increase the number of inter-governmental conflicts with the Spanish Government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why did the territorial conflict between the governments of Catalonia and Spain escalate to the point of extreme institutional disruption in October 2017? The present article explains this crisis – a declaration of independence followed by the imposition of direct rule – as the outcome of an Escalation of Commitment behaviour. By examining the iterative relationship between both governments, the article shows that they were trapped in a failing course of action, unable to withdraw from their early political decisions. Despite facing increasingly negative outcomes from their choices, both sides had already invested too much political capital to quit. Expectations and self-justification attitudes account for the escalation behaviour, together with a radicalized decision environment. The findings have broader implications for the study of nationalist politics: they show that the commitment to early decisions mediated by the existence of strong political incentives against compromise may lead to the escalation of territorial conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalonian secessionism acquired prominence from 2010 onwards. During the last decade secessionist parties won three regional elections and sustained Governments by tiny majorities at the Autonomous Parliament. Two illegal consultations about self-determination were called and around 2 million (38% of population census) supported secession from Spain. An "Independence Declaration" was proclaimed on 27th Oct. 2017, followed by suspension of Home Rule sanctioned by Spanish Parliament that endured till mid-2018. The main consequence of the secessionist push was the build-up of a confrontation between two large segments of Catalan citizenry, unionists and secessionists, which was absent before. This study aims to shed light on the rise of secessionism and the appearance of a deep fissure between these communities. By building upon the complete series of data from iterated official polls (88.538 respondents, 45 surveys), the paper displays the evolving changes along the period 2006–2019 of national identity feelings ("sense of belonging"). Along that period, there were increases exceeding 15 percentage points of "only Catalan" national identity and analogous decreases of "equally Catalan and Spanish" dual national identity. The findings disclosed highly significant covariations between changing trends on national identity feelings with: (1) family/mother language, Catalan vs. Spanish; (2) following regional media versus other media. Since language/ascendancy origins and media consumption trends are closely interrelated, within Catalonia, our discussion focuses on the role played by such ethno-cultural cleavage. Further, statistical analysis for longitudinal data identified several turning points linked to singular political events that likely accentuated polarization around the issue of secession. The findings unveil evolving tracks that could help in the understanding of a process that, in a very short time, produced a severe social division within a fully open and democratic society at the heart of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to the dominant expectations of the late 20th century, secessionism surged in two West European minority national communities, Catalonia and Scotland, over the last decade. Yet, in two others enjoying similar degrees of autonomy, Flanders and South Tyrol, secessionism did not gain strength. This outcome suggests that focusing on the degree of autonomy afforded to minority national communities is misplaced. This article shows that the nature of autonomy is more important than its degree for understanding the strength of secessionism. It demonstrates that the key to autonomy regimes weakening secessionism is their capacity to adjust and expand over time. Dynamic autonomy staves off secessionism while static autonomy stimulates it. The article is based on a controlled comparison of, on the one hand, Catalonia and Scotland, where autonomy regimes have been mostly static during key periods of time, and, on the other hand, Flanders and South Tyrol, where they have been dynamic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La Verge de Montserrat is a statue of the Virgin Mary and her son found in Catalonia in the eleventh century in which both characters are depicted as "Black." This female figure occupies a particular position in current Catalonia since she is considered the patron saint of the country and constitutes one of the symbolic cornerstones of Catalan nationalism. Through the concept of "iconic path," this article tracks the formation and evolution of this image in Catalonia from its inception until the present day, bringing special attention to the roles and significances that it has acquired within the context of the current pro-independence movement. We also draw a comparison between the "lives" of this image in Catalonia and its development in other countries, namely Puerto Rico, Equatorial Guinea and Sardinia. In each of these places, the image of the goddess has been reinterpreted according to local viewpoints. Yet these conceptualizations are not fixed or homogeneous, but radically dynamic and problematic. The iconic paths of images diverge and converge across time giving birth to new creative exercises. Through this approach, our aim is to propose a relational and processual model for the study of religious images, and images in general, as historical objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many charges have been made against Catalan secessionism from a normative or ideological point of view. In this article we would like to focus on the accusation that the secessionist movement is xenophobic, racist or ethnicist. Between 2017 and 2019, and particularly since Quim Torra was named president of the Generalitat, this has been the dominant criticism in the arguments set out against secessionism. We are interested in evaluating the strength of this accusation in this contribution. In this respect, we focus on the discourse and the main legislative actions adopted by the Catalan institutions since embarking on a determined bid for sovereignty, popularly called the Process, in 2010. Our conclusion is that both from discursive and legislative points of view, it can be concluded that Catalan secessionism cannot be considered as an ethnicist movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most theories on nationalism have rested on the assumption that nationalism was related to the nation-state as the main holder of power in our time. It sought to endorse or question its boundaries, but never the legitimacy of the model. Both state nationalists and ethnonationalists shared an understanding of citizenship as a belonging nexus and as a foundation of rights. However, the current processes of globalization and social breakdown driven by neoliberal adjustment policies have favoured the emergence of new nationalist movements that are not defined exclusively in relation to the state, but also in relation to the market by establishing interfaces with other social movements. This essay studies the pro-independence process in Catalonia to examine the readaptation of new nationalist movements in the face of the crisis of the nation-state and the financial crisis. We analyse the evolution of the independence process in Catalonia over ten years, describing both the evolution of discourse and the development of new political practice, as well as a readjustment of the positions of new and classical political actors. We conclude that the rise of the self-determination movement in Catalonia reflects a significant discursive and programmatic shift in ethnonationalism. The new nationalist projects appear as a solution to social problems generated by a nation-state that has lost competence in the framework of the European Union and globalization, and also by anti-social cutback measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores party strategies in electoral competition in Catalonia in order to test the existence of ethnic outbidding (Chandra, 2005 ; Zuber and Szöcsik, 2015). We contribute with original findings on this case by addressing the evolution of political parties' discourses through a qualitative analysis of their manifestos for the last five regional elections campaigns (2006–2017), covering a period of strong territorial conflict between Catalonia and Spain. Our analysis aims to measure the impact of secessionism growth on parties' ethnic competition in Catalonia and compares the strategies of secessionist, federalist and centralist parties. In order to measure ethnicity, we focus on language, the most salient identity marker in Catalan politics, and link the evolution of parties' territorial positions to that of their treatment of national identities and the Catalan and Castilian languages – both official languages in Catalonia – in their manifestos. Our findings include diverse strategies that do not entirely fit in with ethnic competition theories. First, we find that territorial outbidding does not always imply ethnic outbidding: political parties generally do not use the main identity marker in Catalonia (language) for outbidding purposes. Second, we find some evidence of ethnic outbidding in majority nationalist parties, but not in minority nationalist parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses whether economic voting plays any role in a parliamentary, decentralized polity. Decentralization is argued to blur lines of responsibility and confuse voters about whom to blame for poor economic performance at the national and regional levels. National and Regional Economic Voting (NEV and REV, respectively) are tested in Catalonia (Spain). The initial empirical test suggests that only NEV takes place in this region. Four hypotheses are considered to explain REV’s absence: blame-shifting, blinding nationalism, coalition government, and misinformation regarding Policy Responsibility Distribution across tiers of government. Using reasonable counterfactuals and Bayesian techniques, the first three hypotheses are dismissed, whereas the last is confirmed. The results emphasize the informational requirements behind the economic voting theory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]