This book deals with the culture of Catalan resistance to assimilation, through the maintenance of the Catalan language as an expression of identity. This book argues that the Catalans also developed a series of cultural mechanisms to foster identity through intellectual and recreational pursuits, as well as through an emphasis on language.

News media are principal actors in the development of national identities: they have the ability to construct them, maintain them, or divide them. Identity Discourses about Spain and Catalonia in News Media explores the historical and contemporary role of journalism in the relationship between Catalonia and Spain. With more than seven million inhabitants, Catalonia is a region of Spain with historical economic strength and a unique culture. For centuries, but recently at an escalating pace, a large part of the Catalan population has expressed the desire to secede from Spain, constituting a prototypical case study for secessionism among developed countries. This book explains how news media have constructed Catalan and Spanish identities as different from one other, suggesting that journalism can play a crucial role in secessionist politics.

As Hong Kong is integrated into the People’s Republic of China, ever fewer people in the city identify as Chinese. Two Systems, Two Countries explains why. Two Systems, Two Countries traces the origins of Hong Kong nationalism and introduces readers to its main schools of thought: city-state theory, self-determination, independence, and returnism. The idea of Hong Kong independence, Kevin Carrico shows, is more than just a provocation testing Beijing’s red lines: it represents a collective awakening to the failure of One Country Two Systems and the need to transcend obsolete orthodoxies. With a conclusion that examines Hong Kong nationalism’s influence on the 2019 protest movement, Two Systems, Two Countries is an engaging and accessible introduction to the tumultuous shifts in Hong Kong politics and identity over the past decade.

Although the fight for independence by national minorities has received much attention recently, there is no study of how globalised sport in its most advanced form can help to stimulate it. This book shows how the 1992 Olympic Games raised the tension that already existed between Catalonia and Spain, from the time they were awarded to Barcelona until they opened. John Hargreaves analyses and explains the way in which the conflict developed and eventually was resolved, in terms of the special characteristics of Catalan nationalism, the nature of the new Spanish democracy and the special role played by the International Olympic Committee. This book will be relevant to academics, researchers and postgraduates specialising in nationalism and Catalan nationalism, as well as being of interest to teachers, researchers and students of political sociology, cultural studies and sports studies, and professionals working in the fields of culture, sport, recreation and leisure.

This volume offers an overview of the ongoing debate regarding nationalism, globalisation, secessionism and languages in 21st century Catalonia. At the heart of the book is a set of interlocking questions relating to socio-political issues in sub-state nations seeking independence in the 21st century.

The issue of human rights becomes very complex when applied to language. 'Individual' rights have little meaning in this domain. People do not ask for the right to speak to themselves, they ask for the right to use their language within their group. Where populations are heterogenous, such rights are difficult to ensure. Language can be a powerful means of inclusion and exclusion and this is particularly true in democratic societies where debate is central to the process. This book looks at these fundamental questions in the context of Catalonia.