A narrative analysis of four main discourses of national identity in Spain, with a special focus on Catalonia, as disseminated in the Spanish press in the period between 1993 and 1996. The study includes assessments of the Spanish press coverage of the 1994 USA Football World Cup, and the process of negotiation towards a pact between Partido Popular and Convergencia I Unio in central government.

A view from abroad to the internationalization of the Catalan crisis. Exiled President of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont was arrested in Germany in March 2018 on his way back from Finland. That marked a turning point in the internationalization of the Catalan crisis. German court refused his extradition to Spain arguing he had not committed rebellion. Meanwhile part of the legitimate Government of Catalonia as well as civil society leaders have been in an unjust pre-trial detention for over 1,5 years. Trial against Catalan political prisoners is coming to an end in the summer of 2019. Sentences are expected to be harsh further escalating the political conflict between Spain and Catalonia. Janne Riitakorpi, co-organizer of President Puigdemont’s visit to Finland, analyses in his book the recent years of the Catalan independence movement from an international perspective. Book contains background to Europe's strongest secessionist movement, detailed analysis of international reactions witnessed during the tense autumn of 2017 as well as author’s personal experiences from the heart of the Catalan struggle. Riitakorpi lived in Barcelona in 2017 and worked for the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia during the 1 October referendum and 27 October declaration of independence. He is also Secretary of the Foreign Friends of Catalonia as well as the Executive Director of the Finland-Catalonia Friendship Association. Foreword by the 130th President of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont.

Unabhängigkeitsbewegungen haben in der letzten Zeit auch in Westeuropa die Stabilität mancher Staaten in Frage gestellt. In Schottland entschied sich eine knappe Mehrheit schliesslich dafür, im Vereinigten Königreich zu verbleiben. Die katalanische Forderung nach einem ähnlichen Referendum wurde dagegen vom spanischen Staat konsequent zurückgewiesen. Unser Buch beantwortet folgende Fragen: Wann, wie und warum hat sich die lange nichtseparatistische katalanische Nationalbewegung der Unabhängigkeit zugewandt? Geht es um Sprache, Identität, um Geld, oder um Demokratie? Welche Rolle spielen dabei die Immigranten? Welche alternative Lösungen sind denkbar? Wie reagiert Europa, wie Deutschland? Gibt es einen Weg zur Unabhängigkeit? Und schliesslich: Wäre ein unabhängiges Katalonien lebensfähig? Die Herausgeber dieses Bandes Stephan Rixen (Rechtswissenschaft, Universität Bayreuth) und Klaus-Jürgen Nagel (Politikwissenschaft, Universitat Pompeu Fabra) vertreten zwei der Fachrichtungen, die sich solchen Fragen widmen. Doch auch weitere Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften sind in diesem Band vertreten. In englischer Sprache.

Imagine if your country voted to become independent, that vote was then ignored and its political leaders imprisoned or exiled.Following Catalonia's independence referendum, Clara Ponsatí, Education Minister, along with Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont were charged with sedition. They had to leave Catalonia and go into self-imposed exile, and seven of their former cabinet colleagues were imprisoned. The Case of the Catalans is a landmark book that explains the injustice Catalans have faced by being marginalised with their political beliefs rendered unlawful by the Spanish government. In this book, Ponsatí and her team of influential academics discuss the future of the Catalan people and the political and social tensions that led to the controversial referendum.In a clear and accessible style, they aim to educate as many people as possible, whether interested in politics or not, about the extraordinarily backward democratic process that currently defines Spain's national identity and has defied the settled will of the Catalan people.

James I "the Conqueror", king of Arago-Catalonia, conquered Mediterranean Spain from Islam during fifty crusading years (1225-1276). From his many surrender treaties, only two survive in their interlinear bilingual originals, both presented here. Each reflects the fragmentation of post-Almohad Islam, the warrior heroes of Islam carving recalcitrant principalities out of the confusion, the hard-fought local negotiations and the confrontation between two radically opposed mentalities. The full meaning of these battered and deteriorated bits of parchment emerges only from minute reconstruction of the Arabic and Latinate texts and especially from ever-widening circles of changing contexts in each world, an historical kaleidoscope. Many surprises here await students of medieval Europe, the Islamic West, Spain, the Crusades, diplomacy, Mudejars/Moriscos, and cultural conflict and interchange.

Contesting Spain? The Dynamics of Nationalist Movements in Catalonia and the Basque Country offers an exploration of the dynamics behind contemporary shifts in the orientation of nationalist parties and movements with reference to Catalonia and the Basque country in Spain. The chapters were originally papers presented at a workshop held at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) in September 2014 as part of a research project on ‘The Dynamics of Nationalist Evolution in Contemporary Spain’, whose purpose was to gain a better understanding of why regionally-based nationalist movements have experienced shifting relationships with the Spanish state over time, in some periods appearing content with accommodation between central and regional government and at other times pushing to go beyond autonomist demands to seek sovereignty or even attain full independence. The volume is one of the first to focus comparatively on the rise of pro-sovereignty politics in mainstream nationalist parties, whose evolution has also featured more traditional impulses towards territorial accommodation within the wider state. Using the exceptionally rich laboratory provided by Spain, the book explores the dynamics behind shifts in the orientation of nationalist parties and movements once they have established themselves as electorally successful at regional level. Dimensions to the analysis include: the interaction of nationalist parties with central government; pressures from their support bases; competition between parties within the home region; and international influences. This title is innovative in bringing together experts with a range of disciplinary approaches: primarily political scientists but also historians and scholars located at the cusp between social sciences and humanities.

"Catalonia: the struggle over independence offers an overview of Catalonia's political, cultural and economic life and its relations with the rest of Spain. It shows how Catalonia has long displayed the characteristics of a nation: distinct language and culture, separate social and political institutions, and a strong collective identity. At the same time, Catalonia has been one of Spain's primary centres of economic dynamism and innovation. As such, it is an especially striking instance of "minority' or 'internal' nations within a larger political order. During the Franco years, the Spanish state made a concerted effort to eliminate Catalonia's national characteristics. Subsequently, as it sought to restore the Catalan nation, Catalonia's leadership, and most of its population, presumed that Catalonia would pursue 'nation-building without a state' as part of the post-Franco constitutional and political order. This second edition analyzes the remarkable transformation that has taken place over the last decade. The ideal of an independent and sovereign Catalonia has become: the formal objective of Catalonia's parliament and government; the raison d'être of a strongly mobilized social movement; and the preferred arrangement of close to half of Catalonia's residents. In 2017, the drive for independence even led to a failed attempt to secure independence unilaterally, in defiance of Spain's constitution and its central state. How can this transformation best be explained and what does it portend for the future of Catalonia and Spain? The book offers Important insights about the origins of nationalism and the politics of secessionism. By exploring the challenge of accommodating 'internal nations' within a larger state, the book addresses a central question facing the political institutions of much of Europe and North America"--

Pt. 1. International negotiations. -- Pt. 2. Negotiation techniques used around the world. -- Pt. 3. Negotiate right in any of 50 countries.

The book reviews the historical, legal, political and economic aspects of the present conflict between Catalonia and Spain, exploring why so many Catalans are no longer happy to be part of Spain. The book is compiled of six essays from seven Catalan academics, each one examining the case for Catalan independence, and making the situation easy to understand.