Comparing the Basque Diaspora

COMPARING THE BASQUE DIASPORA: Ethnonationalism, transnationalism and identity maintenance in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Peru, the United States of America, and Uruguay by Gloria Pilar Totoricagiiena Thesis submitted in partial requirement for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The London School of Economics and Political Science University of London 2000 1 UMI Number: U145019 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U145019 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Theses, F 7877 7S/^S| Acknowledgments I would like to gratefully acknowledge the supervision of Professor Brendan O’Leary, whose expertise in ethnonationalism attracted me to the LSE and whose careful comments guided me through the writing of this thesis; advising by Dr. Erik Ringmar at the LSE, and my indebtedness to mentor, Professor Gregory A. Raymond, specialist in international relations and conflict resolution at Boise State University, and his nearly twenty years of inspiration and faith in my academic abilities. Fellowships from the American Association of University Women, Euskal Fundazioa, and Eusko Jaurlaritza contributed to the financial requirements of this international travel. Four years of research involving travel in eight countries has contributed to numerous debts of gratitude to many new friends. Eskerrik asko biotzetik to those Basques who opened their homes and personal lives to me for interviews which often asked them to revisit painful memories. Their courage to survive and supersede their circumstances exemplifies the meaning of endurance and spirit, and is indeed humbling. Sincere appreciation goes to Felipe Muguerza and Miren Arozarena in Argentina for generously aiding the re-creation of my fieldwork after my luggage was stolen- including laptop computer, all back up disks, completed questionnaires and taped interviews. It would have been easy to quit without their advocacy. To Gurutz Iguain and Carlota Oyarbide for facilitating fieldwork, travel, and interviews, many Basque dinners, and an ever open door in Uruguay- mila esker. Thanks to German Garbizu and Ion Guarotxena in Peru, my stay in Lima was academically and personally rewarding. In Australia, Jose Goicoechea, Dolores Mendiolea Larrazabal, Mary Arrate Bengoa, Nekane Kandino, Miren Garagarza, Carlos Orne, and Mari Asun Salazar, all demonstrated an unbelievable solidarity with my project- commandeering living rooms and marshaling interview schedules. In Belgium, Ibon Mendibelzua helped organize questionnaire and interview details, and Enrike Pagoaga offered his home, office, and kitchen for three weeks of endless interrogation, though not the sort to which he is accustomed. His willing honesty and openness regarding his political past, and future, and his introductions to others were invaluable to me for understanding their representation of political exile, ETA, and the mentality of its sympathizers. My fieldwork in the United States really began over twenty years ago when, as a teenage Basque dancer, our troupe traveled around the West meeting other Basques whom 2 I found had the same double identity as I did. Two decades of Basque festivals, conferences, and serving as representative to Basque organizations have kept my antennae tuned to definitions of “Basqueness”. Thank you to NABO President Bob Echeverria and Vice President Steve Mendive for document sharing and many good laughs about the stamina and iron will of Basque women. Thanks also to Mr. Inaki Aguirre Arizmendi, Director of Relations for Basque Collectivities of the Basque Autonomous Government, for providing much data and time for several interviews over the last four years. My own transnational identity has benefited from the unending encouragement from friends made at the London School of Economics. PhD colleagues, Razmik Panossian especially, and Heidi Ullrich, Gwen Sasse, Anne Corbett, Jackie Harris, Lucia Garcia, and Zhand Shabiki have aided intellectual growth and served as confidants and stress counselors. The fondest memories of this PhD process will always be from my Rosebery Hall friends who have stuck with me for these years with consistent cheering from all comers of the planet. Thank you Valerie Chua, Alex Subbotsky, Sophia Spiliotopoulou, Panayiota Chatzipanteli, Salwa Duaibis, Luca Vescovini, Glennis McGregor, Dimitry Ibanov, Dimitry Murzinov, Silvia Sonderegger, and Vitaly Sokolov- whose weekly messages have helped maintain my motivation. Earning this PhD has required much dedication and sacrifice from myself, my best friend and husband John Kirtland, and our daughter Amaia. In addition to the financial, emotional and intellectual commitment, over four years of e-mail marriage and mothering have been extremely challenging. We have endured my travels to London, and throughout Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Australia, Belgium, the Basque Country, and throughout the west of the United States; stolen luggage and data; health traumas, and the trials of adolescence. During the path of this research there have been births and deaths and numerous spiritual renewals in my “Totoricagiiena Tribe” of parents, Mari Carmen and Teodoro, and seven siblings and their families, (who for various reasons are also the authors of this work). We are reinforced by our common family values of unconditional love, respect, pride, loyalty and responsibility to each other and to our joint futures. For Mama and Daddy, whose experiences from the bombing of Gemika and Franco dictatorship and lives as Basques in the United States planted the curiosity for this research, and for John and Amaia, whose love, commitment, and patience enabled its realization, I present this thesis. 3 Abstract Through a comparison of Basque diaspora populations in six countries, this thesis describes and analyzes ethnicity maintenance, transnational consciousness, and ethnonational tendencies of self-defining Basques. I argue that despite geographical and generational differences, the core elements of Basque identity are defined in a constant manner, and ethnic institutions have developed according to similar patterns. I categorize these populations as ‘diaspora’ utilizing Cohen’s definition, and give examples of their (1) traumatic dispersal from an original homeland; (2) expansion from the homeland in pursuit of colonial ambitions, trade, or work; (3) shared myth and collective memory of their homeland; (4) idealization of their homeland; (5) return movement; (6) sustained strong ethnic group consciousness; (7) sense of solidarity with co-ethnic members in other countries; and (8) distinctive and enriched lives in tolerant host countries. I suggest chain migration and consistent interaction with the homeland have strengthened transnational ties and diasporic consciousness. Contemporary relations between Basque diaspora communities and the Basque Government have fomented and reinvigorated ethnicity maintenance for many from the thirty-eight Basque associations represented. Tajfel’s ‘positive social identity’ theory aids in partially explaining ethnic identity preservation in Uruguay, Argentina and some areas of the United States, though respondents in Australia, Peru, and Belgium tend to employ primordialist vocabulary to interpret their persistent ethnonationalism. While homeland definitions of “Basqueness” have progressed to a more civic and inclusive nationalism, diaspora definitions tend to follow the traditional conservativism of Sabino Arana and ancestry, language, and religion. A multimethod approach creates original quantitative and qualitative data from 832 written anonymous questionnaires and 348 personal interviews. SPSS empirical data analysis facilitated cross-tabulations and comparisons. 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................2 Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 4 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ 5 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ 8 List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... 9 List of Maps........................................................................................................................ 10 Glossary of Terms............................................................................................................... 11 Chapter One: Introduction ...............................................................................................13 Rationale for the Study.......................................................................................................15 Plan of the Thesis...............................................................................................................17

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