Against the Thesis of the “Civic Nation”: The Case of Catalonia in Contemporary Spain

Abstract

This article combats the empirical deficiencies, theoretical lacunae, and normative biases that beset the literature on nationalism. It focuses on the context of Catalonia in Spain. It documents the diffusion of divergent modes of national identification across different segments of Catalan society. It employs such thick-descriptive detail to challenge the dominant depiction of Catalan nationalism as a “civic nationalism.” It demonstrates that the social bases of support for the Catalan nationalist movement are overwhelmingly “ethnic,” and that the movement is an elite-led, “top down” project. In addition, it critiques the ideal–typical distinction between “civic” and “ethnic” nationalisms upon which the dominant depiction of Catalan nationalism is based, and it advances an alternative typological distinction between “exclusionary” and “assimilationist” nationalist projects.