Castells' Catalan routes: nationalism and the sociology of identity¹

Abstract

Castells' analysis of the rise of a global network society and information age is underpinned, paradoxically, by a nationalist vision with organic links in a Gramscian sense to Catalan nationalism. This leads to various weaknesses in his theory, especially an over-emphasis on language and nation at the expense of class. Exploring the specifically Catalan origins of his work, and testing its adequacy there, helps us to understand Castells' broader approach. Discussion of Castells has perhaps overlooked his commitment to nationalism because the sociology of identity sometimes unwittingly adopts what Billig has called a banal nationalist perspective. A stricter distinction between the different meanings of the term identity would help sociology to avoid arguments, such as that of Castells, that risk becoming determinist, teleological or both. The article concludes by asking whether the 'sociological imagination' has been alert enough to its banal nationalist form, facilitated by its intimate relationship with the state, its concern for policy relevance and methods of data gathering.

The Reproductive Revolution

“…Paradoxically, while second wave feminist thought has often focused on plastic sexuality and its symbolism, the roots of gender change lie in the shrinking significance of its reproductive component. This accounts for what Castells (1997) calls ‘the end of partiarchalism’ although we disagree with the theoretical model which he uses (MacInnes, 2006b) and which crucially, for us, lacks a demographic base.…”

‘Citizens of the region’: Party conceptions of regional citizenship and immigrant integration

“…Linguistic rights were of particular concern to the party. In the 1980s, the CiU enacted a language ‘normalisation’ law to accomplish ‘full integration of the non‐Catalan population into the Catalan culture, so as not to create cultural ghettos’ (cited in MacInnes 2006: 680). In the area of social rights, former CiU governments incorporated immigrants into welfare state services, and immigrants were offered free Catalan language immersion courses, whereby the ability to speak Catalan was seen as a ‘badge of achieved status’ (Keating 1996).…”

“…With regard to the ‘participation’ dimension of citizenship, immigrants in Catalonia lack political representation and channels to influence the political process. Very few parliamentary representatives have been born outside Catalonia (MacInnes 2006). In particular, while the CiU has sought to welcome immigrants as members of the Catalan nation‐building project, the party has yet to elect an immigrant to the Catalan Parliament.…”

Not Thinking Ethnicity: A Critique of the Ethnicity Paradigm in an Over‐Ethnicised Sociology

“…This is the case, for example, with the term ethnicity and its associated invention of a new kind of human being—one who belongs to an ethnic group—and new forms of social relations, namely ethnicity and “ethnic relations”. To see “ethnic groups” in this way is to suggest that we need to ask how, historically, systems of naming take on social and political significance, that is to say, how they are constructed, how they are deployed, and for whom do they become salient (for examples of what such an approach might entail see, for instance, MacInnes 2006; Davis 1991; Webster 1992).…”