Fire and blood : a comparison of Basque nationalism in France and Spain

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dc.contributor.authorParton, Nigel Rossen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T17:14:03Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T17:14:03Z
dc.date.copyright1995en_US
dc.date.issued1995
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Political Science
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractThis paper addresses the following question: "Why is the ethnicity, or ethnic identity, of Spanish Basques far more politicized than that of French Basques?" The distinction between the two groups of Basques is significant for sev­eral reasons. First, well-known theories which attempt to explain the origin of ethnic nationalism, such as internal colonialism, only partially explain the differences between the two cases under consideration. Second, English-lan­guage treatments of Basque nationalism contain no systematic comparison of the traits which characterize that phenomenon in France and those which characterize that phenomenon in Spain. The analytical framework most appropriate to the present circumstances, where there are too few cases and too many variables to permit a rigorously scientific investigation, is the "comparable-case method." On the basis of this method, the French and Spanish Basques are understood in terms of one eth­nic group but two political groups, each one holding to a different form of na­tionalism. Since the variables which comprise ethnicity are here viewed as constants, those which induced the political divergence of the two groups comprise the focus of this paper. The divergent nature of Basque nationalism is, in part, a result of the in­dustrialization and stratification of Basque society in Spain and the continued rural character of Basque society in France. One intent of this paper, there­fore, is to demonstrate that the politicization of Basque ethnicity in France and, particularly, Spain necessitates an "instrumentalist," rather than a "pri­mordialist," understanding of Basque ethnicity. Briefly defined, the first ap­proach emphasizes the economic origins of ethnic nationalism, whereas the second emphasizes the cultural origins. The divergent nature of Basque nationalism is also a result of the differ­ent theories of government which have influenced the course of state-build­ing in France and Spain. Another intent of this paper, therefore, is to demon­strate that the institutions which form a state often perpetuate ethnic conflicts which the same institutions were designed to ameliorate.
dc.format.extent155 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/19234
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleFire and blood : a comparison of Basque nationalism in France and Spainen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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