Citation

Maskaliūnaitė A. Stud. Ethn. Nation. 2007; 7(3): 78-93.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1754-9469.2007.tb00163.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Using the theoretical concepts of the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, the author discusses the different ways in which three political parties in Spain - PP, PSOE and PNV - construct their discourse in relation to the nation and violence. It is claimed that the PP has developed a discourse based on chains of equivalence, one of which has the nation as a nodal point and the other - the (ETA) violence. These chains are not just political but also ethical constructions. The PSOE bases its discourse on the logic of difference, which attempts to expand the political field to include more and more elements, but sometimes fails to renegotiate some important concepts. The PNV is in a constant fluctuation between the sovereignist position of a permanent struggle to preserve the Basque identity and to liberate the Basque Country and the autonomist position where the logic of difference is employed and only violence is left aside.