Does National Conflict within Spain Undermine or Reinforce the Argument?

Abstract

This chapter examines conflict over the status of Catalonia in response to the demand for independence. The chapter asks whether the Catalan crisis serves as evidence in favor of, or counter to, the book’s central argument. The discussion includes consideration of antecedents to crisis and the trajectory taken by conflict during 2017 and early 2018. Earlier historical antecedents are also examined. The chapter’s argument focuses on the impact of the predominant Spanish pattern of democratic practice on the magnitude of the crisis. The claim advanced here is that the tendency toward exclusion has been visible in this case in the treatment of cultural “others” with consequences that seriously aggravated the problem. The discussion examines the referendum of October 1, 2017, and many other significant episodes during the crisis. The chapter also provides evidence that democratic practice in Catalonia has been surprisingly similar to that of the rest of Spain.