Jean-Baptiste Harguindéguy

The Institutionalization of the European Internal Cross-Border Co-operation Policy: A First Appraisal

ABSTRACT In the space of just 20 years, internal cross-border co-operation (CBC) has transformed from a marginal issue for European integration into an important strand of the third objective of European Unions (EUs) regional policy. How might this process of transformation be explained? This study intends to reconstruct the chronology of its development through interviews and use of archival material. The emergence of the current CBC policy was not, we argue, an inevitable solution to the problem of border management but, rather, the result of a struggle between the actors of that policy sub-system. The dramatic rise of CBC is the result of a series of factors that originated with the signing of the Single European Act in 1986. The construction of CBC as a set of problems and solutions by a network of policy actors at the margins of the EU through a series of technical reports, together with the policy window opened by the appointment of the Delors Commission, allowed the launching of an innovative CBC policy which has consolidated over time.

Towards an institutionalized language policy for the French Basque country? Actors, processes and outcomes

This paper focuses on the progressive institutionalization of the Basque language policy (also called Euskera) in the French Basque Country (Iparralde) since the Second World War. In view of this, it questions how such a policy programme emerged in such a centralized country as France. According to this study, this policy shift was favoured not only by a combination of endogenous factors (for example, the new French territorial polity, the new institutional capacities reached after decentralization, the new relationship with central state services, the establishment of stable territorial coalitions between civil society and local representatives, the new and more peaceful repertoire of collective actions among activists) but also by exogenous variables (for example, the rise of cross-border relations between French and Spanish Basque actors). In sum, the strong political institutions and social movements of the southern Basque Country partially compensated for the institutional weakness of French Basque actors and contributed, along with endogenous factors, to the institutionalization of a specific language policy for Euskera.

European Cross-Border Regions as Policy-makers: A Comparative Approach

ABSTRACT This paper aims to quantify and compare the 177 European cross-border regions (CBR) according to their policy activity between 1959 and 2012. Different variables (number of cross-border regional partners, legal status, physical border effect, cross-border regional growth, domestic product per capita, level of territorial autonomy, integrated governance, and geographic location) were tested in order to analyze their impact on the CBR’s policy activity. It is demonstrated that only three independent variables have a significant effect on the policy activity of CBR: their period of creation, the socioeconomic level of participating members, and the integrated governance of the CBR.

Ethnolinguistic Mobilizations in Europe. An Introduction

Although language is a fundamental issue in contemporary societies, it remains relatively unaddressed by political scientists. The aim of this special issue—based on the workshop ‘Ethnolinguistic Mobilizations and Regional Languages in Europe’ organized under the auspices of the Joint Sessions of the European Consortium for Political Research held in Munster, Germany in 2010—is to explore and compare the different strategies used by linguistic movements to defend regional languages in Europe. The title ‘Ethnolinguistic Mobilizations in Europe’ refers to the broad array of movements (including social movements, pressure groups, formal parties and political institutions) which defend vernacular languages. The terms used to refer to vernacular languages can vary from one study to another. Nevertheless, ‘vernacular languages’ and ‘regional languages’ seem the most neutral expressions as they do not impose a symbolical hierarchy between the language of the state and the other languages spoken within the national borders. The state language is usually a regional language that historically was able to impose itself on the other ones. However, the focus on regional language clearly excludes the other tongues spoken in Europe, such as those imported by migrants (Swahili, Chinese, Arabic) or those spoken by very specific communities (like Hebrew, for instance). By using the concept of ‘ethnolinguistic’, we aim to study the political uses of languages spoken in different regions of Europe. We use the term ‘regional’ as a generic one, to signify that our analysis refers to the sub-state level. In practice, the areas of influence of these languages rarely fit neatly into the administrative regional subdivisions of the European countries; indeed, these linguistic areas encompass different regions from different states at the same time (as in Catalonia or the Basque Country).

The politics of ethno-linguistic mobilization in Europe: language matters

1. Ethnolinguistic Mobilizations in Europe Jean-Baptiste Paul Harguindeguy and Alistair Cole 2. Blocked Articulation and Nationalist Hegemony in Catalonia Thomas Jeffrey Miley 3. The Jacobin Republic and Language Rights. Ethnolinguistic Mobilizations in France Alistair Cole and Jean-Baptiste Paul Harguindeguy 4. Ethnopolitical Mobilization without Groups: Nation-Building in Upper Silesia Magdalena Dembinska 5. Doing As They Are Told? Subregional Language Policies in the Basque Country, Catalonia and Wales Patrick Carlin 6. On the Right to Linguistic Survival Huw Lewis 7. Perfidious Hope: The Legislative Turn in Official Minority Language Regimes Colin Williams

The Jacobin Republic and Language Rights. Ethnolinguistic Mobilizations in France

France is usually considered as the symbol of cultural unification and homogeneity. It is commonly (and, in part, correctly) assumed that the process of political centralization in France profoundly shaped the language preferences of citizens. Nevertheless, sociological surveys reveal a tension between the Jacobin Republican drive for uniformity and a more fine-grained empirical reality in the field of the governance of regional languages. Through the comparison of three case studies (Corsica, Brittany and Picardy), this paper reveals that the defence of lesser-used languages and regional dialects has produced an asymmetrical form of ethnolinguistic mobilization by social movements and political parties, which has been more or less credible depending on processes of institutionalization, actor-accommodation and the official recognition of the lesser-used language in question. Through focusing on the specific case of regional languages, the article leads us to examine not only the recent transformations of the French language policy model, but also to reconsider the nature of the contemporary French state.

The perfect storm? How to explain the rise of intergovernmental conflicts in Spain? (1984–2014)

As in other federal-like countries, intergovernmental relations in Spain are characterised by a series of conflicts between central and regional governments. But, which factors explain this dynamic of contention? This investigation operationalises intergovernmental conflicts through a specific dataset constituted by the volume of contestations between regional and central executives (and vice versa) in Spain before the Constitutional Court. This research demonstrates that from 1984 to 2014 the periods of absolute majority at the Congress and the victory of peripheral nationalist parties at the head of autonomous communities increased the level of intergovernmental contestations.

The survival of Spanish provincial governments in a quasi-federal polity: reframing the debate

ABSTRACT Despite harsh criticisms, Spanish provincial governments (diputaciones) have survived for 200 years and have remained practically unchanged since the Transition. The survival of diputaciones in a proto-regional state is clearly a paradox that requires consideration of a range of potential explanations. Drawing upon extensive empirical investigation within and around three provincial governments in 2013–2014 (Seville, Barcelona, and Valencia), the survival of the diputaciones is illuminated by the path dependency and functional arguments, but it is most convincingly explained in terms of cartel (party) politics. The impact of the 2008 economic crisis has stretched these “party bargains” to breaking point.

Resolving the social-democratic dilemma? Andalusia under pressure (2011–15)

This article focuses on the concept of the ‘social-democratic’ dliemma through the study of the Spanish region of Andalusia. Led by social democrats since the democratic Transition, the Andalusian government has developed a specific territorial model that has been challenged by the austerity measures adopted by the conservative cabinet ruling the central state (2011–15). Through a grass-roots interview-based analysis of Andalusian politics, this study elucidates the political and discursive strategy followed by the Andalusian government for preserving its power, protecting its regional model and resolving the social-democratic dilemma. From a systemic perspective, the article demonstrates that exogenous constraints, though heightened in a period of economic crisis, are to an extent counteracted by domestic pressures.