Paper Titles & Abstracts

Sub-state nationalism remains a potent political force in advanced democracies (Lecours 2012). The phenomenon of immigration in the West has raised new challenges for sub-state nations because they define themselves from the larger state by way of distinct cultures and languages, and now they must contend with an influx of immigrants that do not share those traits. Moreover, immigrants are considered unlikely to support a nationalist party, which weakens the political power of the sub-state nation. Consequently, immigrants are often portrayed as a potential threat to the survival of sub-state nations.Nevertheless, recent studies of immigrant integration policy among sub-state nations have revealed more variance than homogeneity (Hepburn 2009; 2011). Research that seeks to account for different policy regimes and changes over time has emphasized the desire for international legitimacy and evolving conceptions of national identity (Barker 2010). This paper builds upon this work in order to undertake a comparison of the Basque Country and Catalonia. In addition to being considered 'most similar' cases along a variety of dimensions, the literature has emphasized the relative 'open' nature of Catalan nationalism and the relative 'exclusionary' character of Basque nationalism (Conversi 1997; Medrano 1995). Contrary to expectations, evidence suggests that the policy regime in the Basque Country is more multicultural and less assimilationist than in Catalonia. Using policy documents, newspaper reportage, and elite interviews, this paper argues that the distinct challenges of nation building faced by elites in the Basque Country and Catalonia have led them on divergent paths.