When the context matters: Identity, secession and the spatial dimension in Catalonia

Abstract

Regional and national identities are significant determinants of people's support for secession. Most previous works, however, have implicitly assumed that national identity has a linear unconditional effect. We complement previous works by showing that the relationship between identity and support for secession changes as a function of the context in which an individual interacts, an effect particularly important among those with mixed national and regional identities. The first stage of our empirical analysis is based on a pool of 22,000 individuals in the context of Catalonia (Spain). Findings confirm that dual-identity individuals are especially affected by their immediate surroundings: the probability to vote in favour of independence among them substantially increases when the percentage of people speaking Catalan increases. On a second stage, we explore the existence of a social interaction mechanism by employing a survey that measures the preferences of people's close networks. We show that individual's interaction in like-minded networks modifies the relationship between identity and secession, with the effect being again strong among dual-identity individuals. This group is six times more likely to vote for secession when having only pro-secession close contacts, as compared to having none. These results have implications for studies on regionalism and preferences for territorial decentralization.

Privileged Rebels: A Longitudinal Analysis of Distinctive Economic Traits of Catalonian Secessionism

“…This was also reflected on the score (y-axis value) of the unionism index (Figure 3), where large municipalities correspond mainly to towns situated on the coastal conurbations of the region. These big conurbations have the highest proportions of citizens from migrant origins, either from other Spanish regions or from abroad (Barceló 2014;Guntermann et al 2018;Hierro 2015;Lepic 2017;OEC Group 2017;Rodon and Guinjoan 2018).…”

Unveiling pathways for the fissure among secessionists and unionists in Catalonia: identities, family language, and media influence

“…We will focus first on variations of sense of belonging feelings in two significant segments of Catalan citizens, those whose family language is Catalan vs. those whose family language is Spanish. This is mandatory since previous findings either from survey data or from electoral results had established the priority of this ethnolinguistic cleavage rooted on ascendancy origins (Cuadras-Morató and Rodon, 2018;Maza et al, 2019;Miley, 2007Miley, , 2013Oller et al, 2019aOller et al, , 2019b. Secondly, we will assess the evolving changes of sense of belonging depending on media following preferences-whether the official TV and Radio controlled by the Regional Government (broadcasting exclusively in Catalan language), vs. other TV and Radios, because in previous studies we and others had shown the importance of this variable (Garcia, 2013;Tobeña, 2017;Oller and Satorra, 2017;Oller et al, 2019aOller et al, , 2019b.…”

‘Algorithmic nations’: seeing like a city-regional and techno-political conceptual assemblage

“…By examining the aftermath of Scottish independence and the UK's continued membership in the EU (Brexit) as well as the political struggle in Catalonia and the resulting territorial crisis in Spain, we can determine how (1) the metropolitanization trend, (2) devolution claims and (3) the right-to-decide discussions have triggered wider debates on citizenship, changing patterns in geographies, political and democratic governance challenges, and more generally the organization and legitimation of nation-state power institutionally and territorially as well as politically and democratically (Calzada, 2014;Jessop, 1990;Rodon & Guinjoan, 2018). By contrast, current transitions towards algorithmic discoveries embodied in e-state blockchain government cases, particularly in the small state of Estonia, might open up new research pathways for small stateless city-regionalized nations such as the Basque Country (Heller, 2017;Tammpuu & Masso, 2018).…”