Abstract
This paper deals with the formation of a transnational society between Galicia and the Northern part of Portugal, analysed from an anthropological point of view. Concepts like cosmopolitism, ethnicity, liminality, and memory are central in the theoretical discussion for interpreting the processes of transnationalism. The suppression of the borders in the post-national European Union made the creation of transnational communities near the states’ borders possible. This process, in the case of the Galician-Portuguese borders, has developed depending on the ethnic processes, once the Spanish and Portuguese states attained democracies. The concept of a cosmopolitan nation has also been central in the discussion of how ethnicity and nationalism intervene in the process of transnationalism.
Highlights
Recent relationships between both societies of Galicia and Northern Portugal constitute a good example of how social spaces belonging to old European borders are reconfiguring, that the borders between states in the European Union are softer
The first section of this paper establishes the initial conceptual level; the second examines the transnationalism of institutions and citizens; the third presents an argument for how a historical and symbolic capital imposes its categories of perception upon the bureaucratic field; the fourth section describes the consequences for the transnational market in this regional and transnational area; and in the fifth section, I discuss the topic of a cosmopolitan nation as an organisation of cultural pluralism in the transnational world
All this suggests that today there is a process of recovering national memories which contribute to the growth of transnationalism and of the spaces for cosmopolitism through the creation of transnational identities
Summary
Recent relationships between both societies of Galicia and Northern Portugal constitute a good example of how social spaces belonging to old European borders are reconfiguring, that the borders between states in the European Union are softer. What I want to propose is an anthropological reflexion for interpreting these social and political realities involved: on the one hand by observing how facts are emerging which favour transnationalities of citizenships and institutions in both countries, on the other by analysing the process of the affirmation of Galician ethnicity in the Spanish state in this context. The first section of this paper establishes the initial conceptual level; the second examines the transnationalism of institutions and citizens; the third presents an argument for how a historical and symbolic capital imposes its categories of perception upon the bureaucratic field; the fourth section describes the consequences for the transnational market in this regional and transnational area; and in the fifth section, I discuss the topic of a cosmopolitan nation as an organisation of cultural pluralism in the transnational world
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