Nation and State Building as Collective Action A comparative…国家和国家建设作为集体行动比较.pdfVIP

1 Nation and State Building as Collective Action: A comparative analysis of mechanisms and processes in Catalonia and the Basque Country1 Meritxell Martínez Riera2 Mario Zubiaga3 Abstract Nation and state building processes are necessarily linked with episodes of political contention in which collective action takes on a very important role. The nationalist collective mobilization, both in Catalonia and in the Basque Country, has been constant over the last decades. Interestingly, the end of the Basque violent cycle is coinciding with the activation of a new protest cycle in Catalonia that emerged within a strong polarization process. The comparative study of these contentious episodes can be carried out by means of the “dynamics of contention” model proposed by Charles Tilly, Doug McAdam and Sidney Tarrow. This paper will try to compare the rate and mode of activation of different mechanisms of contention both in Catalonia and the Basque Country. Firstly, when we apply the map of secession mechanisms to the cases under study it reveals a stronger activation of certain essential mechanisms in the Catalan case. Secondly, for certain political categories, it should be noted the diffusion process from the Basque Country to Catalonia, and later in Catalonia. Keywords: collective action, political contention, nationalism, Basque Country, comparative analysis Resumen Los procesos de construcción estatal y nacional están necesariamente conectados con episodios de contienda política donde la acción colectiva tiene un papel muy importante. La movilización de los colectivos nacionalistas, tanto en Catalun