Nationalism in Spain in a European Context

Nationalism in Spain in a European Context DESCRIPTION Spain is smaller than Texas, but has four official languages. The US has received many people from many countries but all share a common national identity. In Spain, at least three minority national identities exist alongside a Spanish national identity. In both Catalonia and the Basque Country, nationalist parties have long advanced demands for greater autonomy and ultimately independence from Spain. In the Basque Country, for over forty years, the terrorist organization ETA has engaged in an armed struggle for independence, killing over 800 people in the name of a sovereign Euzkadi. In Spain, the Catalan regional government is committed, with or without the permission of the national government, to holding a referendum on independence on November 9, 2014. How is this possible? What is going on in Spain regarding nationalism that is different from the US or, for that matter, Germany? How is this situation manageable in a context like the European Union? Is the Spanish situation so unique in Europe? It seems not: Scottish, Corsican, Northern Italian, and Flemish are only some of the examples of national identities that exist within and apart from the dominant identity of certain European countries. Moreover, on September 18, 2014, Scotland will celebrate a referendum on its independence. Belgium recently took a year to form a stable government since no coalition was possible among parties representing the Flemish and Walloon populations. In Italy, the Lega Nord has pushed, for many years, for the independence of the north of the country… What is going on in Europe? How is it possible that when the world is becoming more and more integrated, there are some communities that want to be more and more independent? How do all those movements fit into the EU? In this course we will look at nationalist movements from two perspectives that will be constantly interconnected. The first one will closely consider the political, social and cultural dimensions of nationalism and regionalism in Spain. The second examines these identities and movements in a wider European perspective. In the first part of the course, we will get an overview of the political situation and state and non-state nationalism in Spain and Europe, and consider the theoretical and conceptual framework for the study of both phenomena. In the second part of the course we will trace the origins, history and evolution of the nation and nationalism in Spain, focusing specifically on the cases of Catalan and Basque nationalism, considered from historical and contemporary perspectives.