Contestation or accommodation? Catalan and Basque sub-nationalist movements compared Cristina Gjelsten Master’s thesis in Peace and Conflict Studies Department of Political Science UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring 2020 Supervisor: Marcus Buck Word count: 31.078 Contestation or accommodation? Catalan and Basque sub-nationalist movements compared I © Cristina Gjelsten 2020 Contestation or accommodation? Cristina Gjelsten http://www.duo.uio.no Word count: 31.078 II Abstract Nationalist conflicts are a recurrent source of concern for disparate countries, Spain is one of them. Despite sharing the same statewide context, the Catalan and Basque sub-nationalist movements have evolved quite differently in the last years. Whereas Catalonia has reached an unprecedented increase of secessionism in roughly the last decade, the Basque Country has in the same timeframe experienced the easing of its sub-nationalist demands. Connecting with the broader field of nationalist movements, this thesis aims to fill a gap by analyzing this relatively unexplored dimension of contrasting the political momentums of Catalan and Basque sub-nationalism. To this end, this thesis provides more nuanced understanding of the processes and conditions (causal mechanisms) behind these differing political outcomes. Thus, the research question asks which conditions fueled the escalation of Catalan secessionist aspirations, and conversely, eased such demands in the Basque Country in the timeframe 2009-2019. The basis for this study is an eclectic theoretical framework which connects broader theory on nationalism with top-down and bottom-up approaches, social movements and non-violence theories. For that, I have combined comparative analysis with process tracing. In doing so, I take Richard Gillespie’s concepts of accommodation and contestation towards the central state and apply them by dividing the Basque and Catalan trajectories into phases. In the analysis, I show that the levels of sub-nationalist assertiveness are determined by three sets of conditions. Such conditions lead to differing mechanisms, which consequently, foster either accommodation or contestation. The theoretical framework I develop consists of a top-down, bottom-up and contextual-conditions trialogue. I found seven conditions that all impact sub-nationalist movements to some extent. Specifically: factionalism (within the main sub-nationalist party); competition (between sub-nationalist parties); type of regional leadership (contesting/accommodating); popular mobilization and pro-independence civil structures; economic situation (adverse/advantageous); and political violence related to the movement. These findings have important implications for the development of a typological theory of sub-nationalist performances. III IV Acknowledgements First of all, I want to thank my supervisor, Marcus Buck, for believing in my research proposal from the start. Thank you for your patience, for always being available just an email away and encouraging my work even when I have felt lost in the process. And all of it through not just a few challenges that appeared along the way. Gracias. Next, I am forever grateful for my biggest support in this journey, my partner. Thank you Jeez for encouraging me and helping me so much with everything. For not only being understanding but also for never complaining about anything and giving me all the positivity possible. I also thank my Kosegruppa for valuable advice and being my Oslo family. Tusen takk to Kari for your sincere interest, vitality (and the hard task of printing during Corona times)! To the very special and professional editor Frifri. Kathi, who oriented me in the beginning of the journey. And Leo for having the (much needed) group dinners for motivation! And importantly, thank you to my parents and family for always believing in me and never pressuring me. Your unconditional support is one of the greatest gifts I could ever ask for. This said, any errors and inaccuracies found in this thesis are my own. V Note to the reader Despite referring to the Catalan and Basque sub-nationalist movements in a broad sense at some points through my analysis, it is important to recall that there is not one Basque or one Catalan nationalist movement. As a matter of fact, these are split into various competing political parties and factions within these, having not only different leftist-rightist leanings but also different territorial strategies and ambitions. VI VII Table of contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Case Selection ................................................................................................................................ 3 Research Question.......................................................................................................................... 5 Positioning in the field ................................................................................................................... 6 Research Design............................................................................................................................. 6 1.4.1 Process tracing, Conditions and Causal Mechanisms ....................................................................... 8 Disposition of the thesis ................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework ............................................................................. 10 Approaching Nationalism ............................................................................................................. 11 2.1.1 The Center-periphery Paradigm .................................................................................................... 12 2.1.2 Nation-Building and Identity ........................................................................................................ 14 Sub-nationalism or Sub-state Nationalism ..................................................................................... 16 2.2.1 Sovereignty and Secession ........................................................................................................... 17 2.2.2 The Accommodation and Contestation Rationale .......................................................................... 18 2.2.3 Resources..................................................................................................................................... 18 Rational Choice............................................................................................................................ 19 Top-Down and Bottom-Up theoretical divide................................................................................ 20 2.4.1 Behavioral Theory of Competitive Political Parties ....................................................................... 22 2.4.2 Political elites and leadership ........................................................................................................ 23 2.4.3 Factionalism................................................................................................................................. 24 2.4.4 Social Movements ........................................................................................................................ 25 2.4.5 Violent versus Non-Violent social movements .............................................................................. 26 Chapter 3: Research Method ....................................................................................... 28 Dimensions to the analysis ........................................................................................................... 28 3.1.1 Glossary ....................................................................................................................................... 30 Process-tracing mechanisms ......................................................................................................... 31 VIII 3.2.1 Selection of mechanisms .............................................................................................................. 32 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................ 33 Coding ......................................................................................................................................... 34 Concepts and Measurement .......................................................................................................... 35 Tradeoffs of process tracing.......................................................................................................... 35 Critical Quality Assessment .......................................................................................................... 36 Research Ethics ............................................................................................................................ 38 Next steps .................................................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 4: Historical Background ............................................................................... 39 Nation-Building and Identity in Spain ........................................................................................... 39 When did Spain become Spain? ...................................................................................................