“You Said Independence?” The Case of Scotland's and Catalonia's Nationalisms: A Discussion of J. H. Elliott's Scots and Catalans: Union and Disunion

Abstract

Abstract This review essay addresses one of the most complex contemporary political issues: secessionism. The review essay discusses J. H. Elliott's 2018 book, Scots and Catalans: Union and Disunion, to raise questions regarding the processes of independence in the European Union. Particularly, it focuses on the problematic conceptualization of the debates about Catalan independence in twenty-first-century Europe, explaining why concepts such as nation and nationalism should be rethought, which also implies the need to rethink the use of symbols such as national flags. It also insists that one cannot write on such an urgent political topic without addressing at length the role of culture in political thought and national sentiment. The author theorizes the role of the emotions in the creation of political subjectivities, concentrating especially on the central role that the web and the media are given in the fight for independence.