The Making of the Basque Nation

Set against the historical background of Spain's unification as a modern state, this book is a study of Basque nationalism.

Marianne Heiberg (Author)

9780521040280, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 September 2007

284 pages
22.9 x 15.3 x 1.6 cm, 0.42 kg

Set against the historical background of Spain's unification as a modern state, this book is a study of a complex, frequently violent, political phenomenon - Basque nationalism - which after ninety years continues to constitute a major challenge to Spain's established political order. It examines the origins of Basque nationalism in the Basque industrial heartland of Bilbao in the 1890s and analyses its development up to 1980 when the Basque country finally achieved home rule. In particular, the book shows how Basque nationalism operated upon the residents of the Basque country, divided by culture, loyalties, divergent economic and political aspirations and history, to create a new and exclusive political entity - the Basque nation. The main fieldwork was conducted during the two years surrounding the death of General Franco in 1975, a period of exceptional violence in the Basque country that marked Spain's transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one. Using a theoretical approach, the book provides an empirical analysis of one of Spain's most intractable political problems during a decisive period of Spanish history.

List of maps
Preface
Introduction: empire and the emergence of Spain
Part I. From plurality to Basque ethnic solidarity
1. The Basques in history
2. The foundations of the modern Basque country
3. History as myth
4. From the illuminated few to the Basque moral community
5. The moral community and its enemies
6. 'España, una, libre y grande'
7. The moral community, from clandestinity to power
Part II. Inside the Moral Community: the Village of Elgeta, Guipúzcoa: Introduction
8. Social organization in Elgeta
9. Morality manifested: village politics, 1872–1936
10. Hierarchy reimposed
11. Hierarchy dismantled
Postscript
Conclusion: ethnic nationalists and patron-clients in southern Europe
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC]