The Spanish Case: Remarks on the General Theories of Nationalism

Abstract

We must escape ideological bias to develop a theory of regionalism from case studies. Late capitalism often produces regional and sub-national conflicts. Two issues are to be explained: the relationships of regional marginality to new economic developments and, in turn, their relationship to centralization and/or decentralization. The term "self- determination" is no longer clear: what is the unit for "self-determining" its future? To understand the question we must have an historical perspective on each case. In Spain, Catalan and Basque marginality is cultural rather than economic—and has been challenged by the powers of the central state, leading to crisis and military dictatorship. Later, democratization produced guarantees of autonomy for the region as a practical solution.