Skip to main content

Distributed for University of Wales Press

The Catalan Crisis

Between Spanish Liberal Democracy and State (dis) Unity

Applying theory to the political crisis in Catalonia and Spain. 

The Catalan Crisis explores the dissolution of the politico-territorial status quo between Catalonia and Spain and examines the emergence of the Catalan push for self-determination. The main topics covered in the book include the articulation of state unity in post-Francoist Spain; the rationalization of state nationalism and the criminalization of its alternatives; the generation of new forms of radical politics based on the polarization of the political space in Catalonia; and the difficulties encountered by Spanish liberal democracy when trying to accommodate demands based on political and cultural decentralization. In its analysis, the book aims to answer key questions surrounding the conflict, including how the Catalan case can shed light on new forms of democratic participation, resistance, disobedience, and emancipation on a global level.

280 pages | 12.52 x 8.5 | © 2024

Iberian and Latin American Studies

History: European History

Political Science: Public Policy

Sociology: Individual, State and Society


University of Wales Press image

View all books from University of Wales Press

Table of Contents

Preface

1 Introduction

2 The Essentialist Pitfalls of the Literature
Identity and the Dret a decidir
Material Causality
Geopolitical and Economic Consequences
The Right of the Catalans to Self-Determination
Discourses, their Methods of Reproduction and Hegemony-Building
Conclusion

3A Psychoanalytical and Post-Marxist Approach to Social Institution and Change
Reality
Discourse
The Status of Knowledge (and Truth)
Fantasy, Points de capiton, Empty Signifiers and Hegemony
Negativity and Dislocation
The Symptom
Conclusion

4On Monadic Unity: The Point de capiton of the Status Quo (and the Seeds of Its Dissolution)
Introduction
Monadic Unity as a Pure Signifier: Unidad before Signification
Unity within the Political: The State
Conclusion

5The Rule of Law and the Symptoms of Consensual Democracy
Introduction
A Consensual Democracy without Consensus: Exclusion, Invisibilisation, Criminalisation and Blame of the Symptom
Exclusion and Invisibilisation
Criminalisation and Blame
Conclusion

6Sourcing Absence and Alienation to Name Collective Emancipation
Introduction
The Sourcing of Absence as a Necessary Condition for an Alternative Political Identity
Setting a Milestone for Absence
The Absence of Proper Democratic Practices: The 78 Regime
The Absence of Fair Economic and Social Policies
The Absence of Alternative Forms of Cultural Identity
Conclusion

7The Sublimation of Choice into an Emancipatory Horizon: A Procés to Exert the Dret a decidir
Introduction
‘Choice’ to Bind them All: Naming Das Ding or when Decision ‘Takes up the Task’
The Dret a decidir as Subject of Emancipation
A New Non-Monadic Point de capiton and the Blurring of Traditional Political Frontiers
The Dret a decidir as Democracy
Universality through Metaphorical Emptiness
Inalienability and Convention of a Right to Decide
The Inscription of Social Demands
Reluctance from the Left
Convergències, Unions and Liberal/Traditional Catalanism
A Republican Cultural Identity
Conclusion

8Conclusions

Bibliography

Be the first to know

Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!

Sign up here for updates about the Press