LESS DIVIDED AFTER ETA? THE EVOLUTION OF IDEOLOGICAL CLEAVAGES IN THE BASQUE ENVIRONMENTAL FIELD, 2007–2017

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-236
Author(s):  
Alejandro Ciordia
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Political Community ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Civic Organizations

The Basque Country has traditionally been considered a strongly polarized political community. The influence of the center-periphery cleavage and the shadow of political violence have conditioned many aspects of social life, including relations among civic organizations. Previous literature suggests that differences in organizations’ national identities and/or position towards ETA’s (Euskadi ta Askatasuna, or Basque Country and Freedom in the Basque language) violence have often acted as cleavages fragmenting collective action fields. This research examines whether this picture changed substantially after ETA’s abandonment of violence in 2011 by taking the environmental field as a case study and looking at the evolution of patterns of interorganizational collaboration between 2007 and 2017. The results of statistical network analyses show that both Basque nationalism and ideological positions towards ETA’s use of violence had a strong influence on organizations’ decisions to collaborate with one another up to 2011, whereas during the more recent postconflict period, collaboration seems to occur in a more pluralistic and less ideologically driven fashion.

Ethnogenesis in the Pyrenees: The Contentious Making of a National Identity in the Basque Country (1643–2017)

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludger Mees
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Identity Change ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
Political Religion

Focusing on the Basque case study, this article adopts a historical longue-durée perspective over more than two centuries (nineteenth and twentieth) in order to better identify the dialectic in the process of identity formation and change of a small European, stateless community, separated by a borderline and living in two different political, socioeconomic and cultural settings. The political expression of this long process of Basque ‘ethnogenesis’ (A.D. Smith) was the rise of the nationalist movement in the Spanish Basque Country at the end of the nineteenth century. By tracing the analysis of Basque identity back to pre-modern times and following its path to the present, this article aims to produce new insights into the factors that trigger the crucial moments of identity change that bring to an end previous periods of stability. Its epistemological fundaments are connected to some prominent topics that have been widely discussed by historians and other social scientists concerned with nationalism and national identity (the cultural shape of national identities; ‘modernists’ versus ‘ethno-symbolists’; nationalism and political religion; national identity and political violence).

scholarly journals El lazo azul en el País Vasco: una aproximación desde la historia oral veinte años despuésThe Lazo Azul (blue ribbon) in the Basque Country: an approach from oral history twenty years after

2017 ◽  
pp. 381
Author(s):  
Irene Moreno Bibiloni
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Collective Behaviour ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
La Paz ◽  
Blue Ribbon ◽  
Primary Element ◽  
Pais Vasco

El siguiente trabajo tiene como objetivo fundamental realizar un acercamiento a las campañas del lazo azul que se dieron en los años noventa en el País Vasco propiciadas por la Coordinadora Gesto por la Paz de Euskal Herria, en tanto que iniciativa social novedosa ante la violencia terrorista en el País Vasco. Partimos de la hipótesis de la importancia de los movimientos sociales, en este caso el pacifista, para comprender la historia reciente del País Vasco y la evolución de la actitud frente a ETA. La clave para este acercamiento ha sido el estudio de los sentimientos y las emociones como elemento a tener en cuenta en el comportamiento colectivo, más allá de los aspectos racionales que han venido destacando las teorías clásicas de la movilización social. Propongo para este análisis una metodología basada en la historia oral, para tratar de centrar la atención en lo que la emoción genera en relación a la acción colectiva y la movilización ciudadana. Así pues, a las fuenteshemerográficas y documentales se han sumado las orales, a través del análisis de entrevistas semiestructuradas a integrantes de Gesto por la Paz, para reconstruir y comprender qué suponía significarse públicamente contra la violencia política.PALABRAS CLAVE: País Vasco, movilizaciones pacifistas, Gesto por la Paz, historia oral, lazo azul.ABSTRACTThe following study seeks to carry out an examination of the so-called lazo azul (blue ribbon) campaigns during the 1990s in the Basque Country, promoted by the Coordinadora Gesto por la Paz de Euskal Herria. The key to this approach is the study of the feelings and emotions as the primary element to consider in collective behaviour, going beyond the rational aspects which have been highlighted by the classical theories concerning social mobilizations. In order to develop the analysisI use a methodology based on oral history to try to focus on what emotion generates in relation to collective action and citizen mobilizations. Apart from documentary and newspapers sources, oral ones have been added through the analysis of semi-structured interviews of members of Gesto por la Paz, so that what it meant to declare oneself in public against political violence and what was felt when participating in these mobilizations can be rebuilt and understood.KEY WORDS: Basque Country, peace demonstrations, Gesto por la Paz, oral history, blue ribbon.

Civil Action against ETA Terrorism in Basque Country

2019 ◽  
pp. 229-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Argomaniz
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
Civil Action ◽  
Democratic Societies ◽  
Regional Authorities

This study presented in this chapter explores how local and regional authorities, peace organizations, civic groups, and victims’ associations challenged and ultimately delegitimized political violence in Basque country since the 1980s. The chapter demonstrates that civil action, though it was not the only factor in the demise of the armed separatist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), was an engine for political transformation and helped to precipitate an end to the violence by undermining the support for ETA in Basque society. The Basque case holds a number of relevant insights that could be applied to other contexts, including the importance of discursive and normative changes in public attitudes and collective action against terrorism in democratic societies.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in Emotions, Forgiveness and Tolerance in Relation to Political Violence

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana Conejero ◽  
Itziar Etxebarria ◽  
Ignacio Montero
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
Intergroup Conflicts ◽  
The One ◽  
Violence Attitudes ◽  
Short Time

AbstractThis study, which forms part of a broader research project, analyzes gender differences in: the intensity of diverse emotions, the justification of violence, attitudes towards the terrorist group ETA, forgiveness and tolerance. Participants comprised 728 people (45.5% men and 54.5% women) resident in either Basque Country or Navarra (Spain), representative of all national identities and political ideologies existing in this context. An ad hoc questionnaire was designed and administered between November 2005 and February 2006, a short time before ETA declared a ceasefire. Women reported more intensity in fear for political reasons and scored higher in two of the six measures of empathy included in the study (empathy with prisoners and empathy with those who suffer and think like oneself). Men scored higher in positive emotionality, indifference and Schadenfreude. Women perceived apology and forgiveness as more necessary elements for achieving peace than men. These results suggest that it may be beneficial for women to play a more prominent role in relation to the resolution of intergroup conflicts such as the one existing in the Basque Country.

One Court and Many Cultures

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Forst
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Constitutional State ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
German Federal Constitutional Court

This chapter considers the conflicts presided over by constitutional courts in multicultural societies or in societies undergoing cultural change. In making their decisions, constitutional courts find themselves in a special situation, because controversies over the basic understanding of the political community are refracted in the conflicts ruled upon in constitutional cases like in a prism. A peculiar dynamic of the constitutional state also becomes apparent: its basic principles sometimes require that the existing constitution of social life be rethought from the ground up. The chapter illustrates this point through a case study of the German Federal Constitutional Court. Throughout its history, this court has been at the center of the abovementioned dynamic, so that at times it is drawn into a maelstrom of decentering that exposes those involved to a severe test.

Understanding the Outcomes of Climate Change Campaigns in the Australian Environmental Movement

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Robyn Gulliver ◽  
Kelly S. Fielding ◽  
Winnifred Louis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Environmental Advocacy ◽  
Personal Support ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Collective Response ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Advocacy Network ◽  
Australian Climate

Climate change is a global problem requiring a collective response. Grassroots advocacy has been an important element in propelling this collective response, often through the mechanism of campaigns. However, it is not clear whether the climate change campaigns organized by the environmental advocacy groups are successful in achieving their goals, nor the degree to which other benefits may accrue to groups who run them. To investigate this further, we report a case study of the Australian climate change advocacy sector. Three methods were used to gather data to inform this case study: content analysis of climate change organizations’ websites, analysis of website text relating to campaign outcomes, and interviews with climate change campaigners. Findings demonstrate that climate change advocacy is diverse and achieving substantial successes such as the development of climate change-related legislation and divestment commitments from a range of organizations. The data also highlights additional benefits of campaigning such as gaining access to political power and increasing groups’ financial and volunteer resources. The successful outcomes of campaigns were influenced by the ability of groups to sustain strong personal support networks, use skills and resources available across the wider environmental advocacy network, and form consensus around shared strategic values. Communicating the successes of climate change advocacy could help mobilize collective action to address climate change. As such, this case study of the Australian climate change movement is relevant for both academics focusing on social movements and collective action and advocacy-focused practitioners, philanthropists, and non-governmental organizations.

scholarly journals Embodiment of Ancestral Spirits, the Social Interface, and Ritual Ceremonies: Construction of the Shamanic Landscape among the Daur in North China

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 567
Author(s):  
Feng Qu
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
North China ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Interface ◽  
Human Construction ◽  
Human Social Life

The case study in this paper is on the Daur (as well as the Evenki, Buriat, and Bargu Mongols) in Hulun Buir, Northeast China. The aim of this research is to examine how shamanic rituals function as a conduit to actualize communications between the clan members and their shaman ancestors. Through examinations and observations of Daur and other Indigenous shamanic rituals in Northeast China, this paper argues that the human construction of the shamanic landscape brings humans, other-than-humans, and things together into social relations in shamanic ontologies. Inter-human metamorphosis is crucial to Indigenous self-conceptualization and identity. Through rituals, ancestor spirits are active actors involved in almost every aspect of modern human social life among these Indigenous peoples.

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