Friends or foes? Migrants and sub-state nationalists in Europe

Abstract

How do sub-state nationalists respond to the growing presence of cultural diversity in their 'homelands' resulting from migration? Sub-state nationalists in Europe, in 'nations without states' such as Catalonia and Scotland, have been challenging the traditional nation-state model for many decades. While the arguments in favour of autonomy or independence levelled by these movements have become more complex, sub-state nationalist movements remain grounded by their perceived national community that is distinct from the majority nation. Migration to the 'homeland' of a sub-state nation, then, presents a conundrum for sub-state elites that we label the 'legitimation paradox': too much internal diversity may undermine the claim to cultural distinctiveness. We engage with three common intervening variables thought to influence how sub-state nationalists confront the 'legitimation paradox': civic/ethnic nationalism, degree of political autonomy and party competitiom. Our overarching argument is that none of these factors have a unidirectional or determinate affect on the sub-state nationalism-immigration nexus, which is why the nuanced case studies that comprise this Special Issue are worthwhile endeavours.

To see ourselves as others see us: identity and attitudes towards immigration amongst civic nationalists

“…As stated in the introductory contribution to this volume (Jeram, van der Zwet, and Wisthaler 2015), the contradiction between increasingly culturally heterogeneous identities and sustained support for nationalism is particularly relevant for SNRPs. National identity is one of the key reference points for SNRP politics.…”

Migration in Sub-State Territories with Historical-Linguistic Minorities: Main Challenges and New Perspectives

“…The clusters of factors that explain the positioning of old minorities towards migration relate to demography, history, the economy, linguistic and cultural barriers, party landscape and electoral system as well as policy control over immigration (Hepburn 2014: 52-57, Shafir 1995, Medda-Windischer-Carlà 2015, Medda-Windischer-Popelier 2016, Jeram-van der Zwet-Wisthaler 2015. Some of these factors are locally rooted.…”

“…In this respect, it is crucial to stress that opportunities should not be easily converted into obligations. A preference for a 'persuasion and argument' model over a 'sanction and force' model is in fact to be supported (Jeram-van der Zwet-Wisthaler 2015, Baycan 2016. In Belgium, for instance, rigid language regimes established to protect the Dutch language against francophone linguistic dominance risk being perceived as obstacles to a polyethnic society (Medda-Windischer-Popelier 2016b).…”

Despite the crisis: The resilience of intercultural nationalism in Catalonia

“…Many policy areas relevant to immigrant integration, such as education, housing, social services and language, are, at least partially, shared between the central state and Spain's seventeen ACs (Autonomous Communities). In the Basque Country and Catalonia, immigrant integration intersects with matters of national identity because most newcomers are likely to adopt the majority Castilian Spanish language and culture which may compromise the goals of sub‐state nationalism in the long run (Jeram, ; Jeram et al., ).…”

“…Recent scholarship focusing on integration discourse in sub‐state nations has revealed that most stateless nationalist and regionalist parties (SNRPs) have not jumped on the anti‐multiculturalism bandwagon (Barker, ; Hepburn, ; Jeram et al., ). SNRPs are important to the politics of multinational states since they form governments in regional parliaments and often wield influence in state‐level politics (Lecours, ).…”