Collection of articles on the Basque political system within its own context and larger national and global contexts

In the summer of 1998 the University of Nevada, Reno hosted an international symposium entitled "Basques in the Contemporary World: Migration, Identity, and Globalization," attended by nearly eighty scholars. Selected papers from the symposium are now available in three volumes published in the Occasional Papers Series of the Basque Studies Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. These eleven essays focus on Basque nationalism and institutions in the European Union in an increasingly globalized world, the image of Basques in the international media, depictions of ETA in the Spanish press and cinema, the status of Navarre and the French Basque country within (or without) Basque nationalism, and the articulation of a Basque foreign policy through the Basque Government's diaspora policy.

Across Western Europe, the global financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath not only brought economic havoc but also, in turn, intense political upheaval. Many of the political manifestations of the crisis seen in other Western and especially Southern European countries also hit Spain, where challenger parties caused unprecedented parliamentary fragmentation, resulting in four general elections in under four years from 2015 onwards. Yet Spain, a decentralised state where extensive powers are devolved to 17 regions known as ‘autonomous communities’, also stood out from its neighbours due to the importance of the territorial dimension of politics in shaping the political expression of the crisis. This book explains how and why the territorial dimension of politics contributed to shaping party system continuity and change in Spain in the aftermath of the financial crisis, with a particular focus on party behaviour. The territorial dimension encompasses the demands for ever greater autonomy or even sovereignty coming from certain parties within the historic regions of the Basque Country, Catalonia and, to a lesser extent, Galicia. It also encompasses where these historic regions sit within the broader dynamics of intergovernmental relations across Spain’s 17 autonomous communities in total, and how these dynamics contribute to shaping party strategies and behaviour in Spain. Such features became particularly salient in the aftermath of the financial crisis since this coincided with, and indeed accelerated, the rise of the independence movement in Catalonia.

Ramón Zallo offers us with this informative book an overall synthesis of Basque culture, society and history. Thanks to its contents it may be destined to become a road map for understanding some keys about the country of the Basques. The author starts from a broad concept of Basque culture which, while it is not very well known, is proportionally very rich for such a small country. He conceives it as a whole culture and as having a history of its own, although it is very closely related to its surroundings. And its trajectory indicates the need to prioritize its development and singularity in this global world full of uncertainty. In Part One he traces (and vindicates) the cultural and spatial idea of Euskal Herria, and briefly describes its history, society and characteristics, its economic evolution and the political systems of Euskadi, Navarra and Iparralde. He presents a society with deeply-rooted values and a very dense civil society that now needs to review, without amnesia, the tragedies and disappointments of recent years. In Part Two he offers a new vision of each one of the various branches of culture. Giving Euskara the attention that it deserves as the most specific defining trait, the book offers an added dimension through an updated look at the styles, works and names within architecture, the visual, theatre and musical arts, Basque literature in Euskara and Spanish and the different types of heritage.It ends with a gallery of historical and contemporary figures that demonstrate the country’s diversity. Its method is descriptive, orderly and not overly interpretative. Interpretation is left to the reader.

Until now, social scientists studying Spanish politics have focused on party systems, regime transition, and election analysis, and anthropologists studying Spain have largely neglected its political parties. This book is a pathbreaking work of political anthropology and an ethnographic study of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). Author Roland Vazquez studies Basque nationalism as not merely a political phenomenon but as a cultural and social one as well. He examines the forces that have shaped the Basque political panorama, the nature of Basque political campaigns, Basque cultural and social movements both inside and outside the explicitly partisan milieu, and the role of other parties in the Basque Country. The study is enhanced by extensive interviews and broad fieldwork among Basque contacts of diverse backgrounds and loyalties. The result is a vivid portrait of political life in the contemporary Basque Country, of the tensions between various nationalist parties and philosophies, and of the way politics are influenced by Basque notions of community, social connections, and national identity. The book also serves as a model for studies of other political and nationalist movements and the cultural and social ties and values that drive them.

Translated by Cameron Watson and William A. Douglass. Foreword by William A. Douglass. The Basque people have preserved their ethnic identity and sense of themselves as a separate community despite centuries of repression, diaspora, and economic and social upheaval—one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of the phenomenon we call nationalism. In The Social Roots of Basque Nationalism, sociologist Alfonso Pérez-Agote addresses the social mechanisms that Basques employed to sustain their ethnic identity under the Franco Regime and demonstrates how persecution actually encouraged the extension of Basque nationalist consciousness. He also reveals how state political pressure radicalized one element of the Basque-nationalist movement, resulting in the formation of ETA, an armed terrorist wing that itself became a mechanism for extending nationalist consciousness. Finally, he examines the subsequent changes in Basque nationalism following Franco’s death and the extension of democracy in Spain, which resulted in the institutionalization of the movement into an autonomous political power. This work is based in part on interviews and polls with informants in the Basque Country and abroad, eliciting such data as the role that family, education, social contacts, and religious environment play in the evolution of political attitudes; the place of violence in the Basque world view and contemporary political culture; regional variations in Basque nationalism; and the factors that contributed to the resilience of Basque nationalism in adapting to new historical conditions. The result is a sophisticated discussion of the various ways in which Basque social reality is constituted and how this reality helps to create political culture. Because Pérez-Agote situates his discussion within the broader frameworks of ethnic identity, group dynamics, and the nature of nationalism, the book makes a significant contribution not only to our understanding of the Basques but to the broader study of the evolution of nationalism and the nation-state, political violence, and the complicated transition of any society from dictatorship to democracy.

The confrontation between the Franco regime and Basque nationalists produced a series of political assassinations, trials, and reprisals. This historical study presents a vivid account of a century of ferment to establish an independent Basque country. It recounts the way that nationalism became a political force within Basque culture and how that movement subsequently splintered into numerous groups with diverse ideologies, tactics, and goals.