Central European University Department of Political Science a LONG-TERM TERRORIST CAMPAIGN and POLITICAL DISCOURSE
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Central European University Department of Political Science A LONG-TERM TERRORIST CAMPAIGN AND POLITICAL DISCOURSE: THE ROLE OF ETA IN SPANISH POLITICS By Asta Maskalinjnaitơ A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisor: Carol Harrington CEU eTD Collection Budapest, June 2007 I hereby declare that this work contains no materials accepted for any other degrees in any other institutions. This thesis contains no materials previously written and/or published by another person, unless otherwise noted. CEU eTD Collection ii Abstract The attacks of September 11, 2001 on the United States gave a renewed impetus for the development of the studies of terrorism. These new studies, however, tend to focus exclusively on the Al Qaeda-type Islamic terrorism and forget that there are numerous historical cases of terrorism that are enlightening when we try to understand the phenomenon. In addition, the studies both before and after the September 11 attacks tend to leave aside one important element of terrorism, i.e. its political nature, or, more precisely, the impact it has on the politics of the country (or region, or the entire world). The objective of this thesis is to assess how the presence of a terrorist group influences the the political life of the country and the discourse of the country’s main political actors. For the purposes of this thesis, the case of Spain in its fight against the Basque separatist group ETA is taken as a situation to examine. The analysis is based on two assumptions which guide the outlook of the work: first, that we cannot assess the impact of terrorism on the political system without analyzing the discourse of the political actors and, second, that the discourse on terrorism is not created in a vacuum, but builds on the discursive elements that are present in the historical discourse of the country (culture, civilization), and, through the combination of these elements, allows us to understand the terrorist violence and provide it with meaning. The investigation goes through three stages: the first chapter presents the main theoretical concepts and frameworks that are further used in the investigation of the role of the ETA violence in the country; then, the historical discourse on the nation and violence is studied in both Spain and the Basque Country; finally, the last two chapters examine in detail two crucial moments in reshaping of the discourse on violence, namely, signing of the Declaration of Lizarra and the electoral campaign of 2004. Here a particular emphasis is given on the influence that the events of March 11 had on the discourse. Based on the findings of the investigation the following conclusions have been drawn: (1) democratic political actors take the elements available in the historical discourse for their respective discourse constructions; (2) democratic actors connect these different elements in the discourse according to their own needs. There are different types of logic (the logic of equivalence or the logic of difference) that can be employed in an attempt to hegemonize discourse and it is up to the democratic political actors which of them will be given priority to. However, the presence of violence often brings forth the “war frames”, i.e. the logic of equivalence, where everyone who is not with us is against us. Finally, the constructed equivalential chains are not based on neutral political divisions, but represent the moral dimension and the moral choices between good and evil. CEU eTD Collection iii Acknowledgements I am truly grateful to all those who added to this thesis with their suggestions, ideas, proposals and comments. First of all, thanks to my supervisor Carol Harrington for her unfailing help, support and comments on the endless pages with which I was flooding her inbox. Thanks to Paul Roe who believed that I can do something when very few did (I hope this is not a terrible disappointment) Also thanks to my first supervisor Andras Bozoki for initial help with my work. I am grateful to the Department of Political Science and the Library of CEU for providing just the right environment to write this dissertation. A special gratitude also goes to Marie Curie program of European University, my host, the Deusto University in Bilbao and above all to my supervisor in Bilbao Josetxu Martínez Montoya who helped enormously for me to start orienting myself in the Basque labyrinth. Over the long years of writing this work numerous people left an indelible impression on my life and on my thesis. I am truly thankful to everybody who was with me this time – Zoli, Ksenia, Anna, and Robert in Budapest; Biljana, Ana, Txomin and Iñaki in Bilbao; all who supported me through the last stages of my struggle in Tartu and all who make my coming to Vilnius always so pleasurable. My dearest friends, without you I would have achieved nothing. You are in my thoughts even when I don’t call or write emails. My enormous gratitude goes to Lena, who managed to persuade me that “obvious” might not be obvious at all. Finally, I cannot but be eternally grateful to my family. Therefore, thanks to my sister and my mother for help, suggestions and comments especially on the last days of this long journey; to my father for making my life more comfortable and to my grandmother for knowing so well when I will desperately need herring. CEU eTD Collection iv TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................................ 1 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................................. 3 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER I. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. MOVING BEYOND “TERROROLOGY”.......... 37 “CULTURE OF TERROR” – ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF VIOLENCE........................................... 37 WITCHES, HERETICS AND OTHER COMMUNISTS .................................................................................... 39 DISCOURSE, FRAMES, IDENTITIES......................................................................................................... 45 Frame analysis.............................................................................................................................. 45 Schools of discourse analysis......................................................................................................... 49 Identity connection ........................................................................................................................ 55 Discourse construction. Concepts and ideas................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER II. HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. SPAIN: FREE, ONE AND INDIVISIBLE ................. 60 CREATING THE SPANISH IDENTITY: FROM RECONQUISTA TO THE END OF 19TH CENTURY ........................ 61 “THE DISASTER”, GENERATION OF 1898 AND ITS ENEMIES.................................................................... 68 FROM THE FIRST WORLD WAR TO FRANCO ......................................................................................... 76 TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY AND DRAFTING OF THE CONSTITUTION .................................................... 83 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................... 99 CHAPTER III. AFTER TRANSITION. USING HISTORICAL DISCOURSE TO DEAL WITH VIOLENCE ........................................................................................................................................ 104 VIOLENCE IN TRANSITION: BETWEEN TERRORISM AND GOLPISMO ....................................................... 105 THE PSOE GOVERNMENT: PROTECT THE STATE, PROTECT DEMOCRACY.............................................. 110 THE PP GOVERNMENT: PROTECT THE NATION ................................................................................... 119 THE NEW PSOE GOVERNMENT .......................................................................................................... 127 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................. 130 CHAPTER IV. ALTERNATIVE HISTORY – BASQUE NATIONALISM AND ETA................... 131 FROM THE “ORIGINS” TO THE CIVIL WAR........................................................................................... 133 THE CIVIL WAR................................................................................................................................ 146 BIRTH OF ETA TO TRANSITION ......................................................................................................... 151 TRANSITION AND DEMOCRACY ......................................................................................................... 159 FROM AJURIA ENEA TO LIZARRA ...................................................................................................... 167 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................. 173 CHAPTER V. DECLARATION OF LIZARRA AND NATIONAL UNITY. THERE AND BACK AGAIN................................................................................................................................................ 178 THERE: THE CHANGES