Basque Nationalism and the Spanish State: Alternative Routes To Nationalist Mobilisation

Chapter Six. The Management of Basque Nationalism in Spain

The contemporary sociological reality of Spain is characterized by multinationalism , which means that a segment of the country’s population identifies, at least to a degree, with a different national community from the one projected by the state. The Spanish state has been unable to forge a common and unchallenged nation such as the one constructed by the French state (largely through cultural assimilation ) or the Swiss state (through mechanisms of political integration that excluded cultural homogenization). It is therefore faced with the task of managing nationalist movements, that is, of responding to their claims. This chapter examines what approaches and strategies the democratic Spanish state has favored in responding to Basque nationalism, and it analyzes the consequences of these choices. In this context, the chapter also discusses the most recent proposal put forward by moderate Basque nationalists for restructuring the relationship between the Spanish state and the Basque Country. The perspective adopted in this chapter for discussing issues of nationalist conflict management involves some ontological and normative positions. First of all, the core of this book has shown how the process of historical transformations of the Spanish state into various forms has produced the development of a Basque nationalist movement that has found in the structures of the Estado de les Autonomías fertile ground for its expression and consolidation. In this context, it would be illusory to speak of “solving” the “national question” in the Basque Country since the political conflict around this issue is strongly institutionalized. What can be “solved” is the problem of political violence; Northern Ireland stands as a striking example of such a solution, and the permanent cease-fire declared by eta in 2006 opens up the opportunity for a similar “peace process” in the Basque Country. The larger objective of resolving nationalist conflicts (assuming they take nonviolent forms) may not be realistic, at least in a liberal democratic context, in the short or even medium term. It is therefore more accurate to speak of conflict “management” or “regulation.” Why, then, would it be necessary for states to respond in some way to the claims of nationalist movements if no violence is involved? In other words, why would states bother devising strategies to manage these movements? At the most basic Chapter Six The Management of Basque Nationalism in Spain 135 level, it could be argued that the claims of substate nationalism are no different from the constellation of political demands that are articulated in a liberal democracy and that, therefore, they need to be at least acknowledged and incorporated into the political dialogue. National politicians may fear that a complete nonresponse might trigger violence, or some form of civil disobedience. Their concern may be that if no measure is being taken to accommodate (or eradicate) substate nationalism, the shift in loyalty from the nation projected by the state to the one promoted by nationalist leaders might translate into potentially successful secessionist attempts. There is also the more banal issue that the claims of substate nationalism can remain on the national political agenda for a long time. In this context, there is less time and energy to address other important policy issues. Finally, this chapter avoids treating substate nationalism as a “problem,” or a bothersome force that states need to obliterate. From a normative point of view, it is suspect to view substate nationalism as being always and consistently morally inferior to state nationalism. The question is not one of right versus wrong; rather, it has to do with the peaceful and satisfactory coexistence of populations identifying with different nations. Nationalist Management Strategies: Theoretical Perspective There are different approaches for responding to the claims of substate nationalism .1 These approaches are not mutually exclusive but rather tend to be used in combination.2 In addition, one particular approach can be implemented through different strategies. For example, a state looking to boost the power of a group in central institutions may use consociational devices, assign to the group’s political representatives a disproportionately large number of seats in the legislature, create a special cabinet position for the articulation of the group’s preferences, and so on. As a result, the configuration of political practices and institutional arrangements put in place to manage nationalist movements varies from one case to the other. In liberal democratic states, certain options are not available or, more to the point, acceptable.This is obviously the case for approaches involving the use of violence such as genocide or ethnic cleansing. Similarly, strongly...