Sovereignty, Prefigurative Politics, and Basques’ Joy to Decide

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

The literature about Basque politics and the anthropology of sovereignty often define the political within the boundaries of violence, desire, and statehood: a sort of pessimism pervades the general assumptions and the end results. In this article, I shift the focus to a different aspect of the problem of sovereignty, drawing on ethnographic research about a Basque social movement that asserts self-determination in terms of a democratic and pacifist ‘Right to Decide’. Exploring the movement’s organization, daily activities, performances, sociality, and discourses, I argue that they prefigure political pleasure in a way that encourages the performance of sovereignty as a positive force. I show how the movement creates an environment in which producing sovereignty becomes a joyful experience.