Basque and Catalan Nationalism: A Comparison

Nationalism as a form of societal integration has been problematic in Spain for at least 100 years and arguably longer. The problem is a lack of or the weakness of a collective Spanish identity at the state level and the intensity of distinct, territorial collective identities at the sub-state level. The concept of nationality as a form of collective identity is of fairly recent origin, generally accepted as dating from the French Revolution when sovereignty was transferred from a monarch to the people. Many have argued that nationalism is born of the intersection between traditionalism and modernization and thus merely a transitory phenomena which will fade as a country modernizes