Ludger Mees offers the first comprehensive study of one of Europe's most protracted ethnic conflicts. He carefully analyzes both the historical roots of the conflict and its later growing violent dimension. Special attention is paid to the framing of a new opportunity structure during the 1990s, which facilitated the first serious, but ultimately frustrated, attempt to broker a settlement. In the light of different theoretical and comparative approaches, the reasons for the dramatic return of terrorism and the possibilities of a more successful conflict de-escalation in the near future are discussed.

With contributions from leading scholars from the humanities and social sciences, this book provides an interdisciplinary analysis of the roots of violent national conflicts within and between states. It considers some of the key mechanisms of conflict resolution, including economic interdependence and revised notions of sovereignty and the nation-state.

This book analyses the rise and decline of the Basque terrorist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom). ETA declared a unilateral ceasefire in November 2011, bringing to a close a campaign of political violence that started in the late 1960s. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the overwhelming majority of secession supporters agreed that an independent Basque homeland would be realised through ‘ballots’ and not ‘bullets’. Providing an inter-disciplinary overview of radical Basque nationalism that pays special attention to the drivers for ETA’s decline, defeat and disbandment, this book includes chapters by historians, political scientists and sociologists who offer three important theoretical and empirical contributions to the literature on nationhood and security studies. Firstly the book re-assesses the military conflict that opposed ETA and the Spanish state, by paying special attention to tactical and strategic considerations as well as the counter-terrorist policy itself. Secondly it provides an original interpretation of the politics of fear which surrounded the process of victimization, as well as assessing the extent to which the issue of violence led to the polarisation of citizens. Thirdly the authors examine the historical narratives and rituals that contributed to the production and reproduction of identity binaries and memories of war. Arguing that the defeat of ETA must be contextualised within the strategic evolution of Basque nationalism, the declining resonance of the radical message and the effectiveness of the Spanish counter-terrorist effort, this book is essential reading for students and scholars working in the areas of European politics, nationalism and terrorism studies.

This book explores the attitudes, opinions and life experiences of first and second generation intra-state immigrants who are convinced and committed Basque nationalists. Based on in-depth interviews with activists, it challenges many of the assumptions often made about Basque nationalism as an exemplary case of ethnic nationalism in the exclusive sense. Focusing on activists’ migration history, their experiences of social and political inclusion and exclusion, their national and regional identities, their political identities and their experiences of political activism, the author explores the role of origins, identity and life experience in activists’ willingness to engage with Basque nationalism. As such, Intra-State Immigrants as Sub-State Nationalists will appeal to scholars of sociology and politics with interests in migration, national identities and nationalist movements.

This book looks at the fundamental components of national identity as understood by ordinary nation members, and the way in which it is mobilised by political elites. Drawing on an original case comparison between Wales and the Basque Country, the author suggests there are many commonalities between these two nations, particularly around the fundamentals of their national identities. However, differences occur in terms of degree of intensity of feeling and around the politicisation of identity, with more entrenched and hostile political positioning in the Basque Country than Wales. Through a multi-level comparison, the book generates insights into national identity as a theoretical concept and in a ‘stateless nation’ context. It argues for national identity's intangible, yet polemical, nature, looking at the primordialist way it is understood, its permanence and importance, coupled with its lack of everyday salience and consequent obligations.

This study examines the political sources of violence against religious minorities in India. Focusing on Hindu organizations that have asserted dominance over religious minorities, particularly since the late 1980s, Amrita Basu questions the common assumption that Hindu-Muslim violence is inevitable.

Illustrated most dramatically by the events of 9/11 and the subsequent ‘war on terror’, violence represents a challenge to democratic politics and to the establishment of liberal-democratic regimes. Liberal-democracies have themselves not hesitated to use violence and restrict civil liberties as a response to such challenges. These issues are at the centre of global politics and figure prominently in political debates today concerning multiculturalism, political exclusion and the politics of gender. This book takes up these topics with reference to a wide range of case-studies, covering Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. It provides a theoretical framework clarifying the relationship between democracy and violence and presents original research surveying current hot-spots of violent conflict and the ways in which violence affects the prospects for democratic politics and for gender equality. Based on field-work carried out by specialists in the areas covered, this volume will be of high interest to students of democratic politics and to all those concerned with ways in which the recourse to violence could be reduced in a global context. This book has significant implications for policy-makers involved in attempts to develop safer and more peaceful ways of handling political and social conflict. This book was published as a special issue of Democratizations.

Published in association with UNESCO, Democracy and Human Rights in Multicultural Societies examines the political governance of cultural diversity, specifically how public policy-making has dealt with the claims for cultural recognition that have increasingly been expressed by ethno-national movements, language groups, religious minorities, indigenous peoples and migrant communities. Its principle aim is to understand, explain and assess public-policy responses to ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity. Adopting interdisciplinary perspectives of comparative social sciences, the contributors address the conditions, forms, and consequences of democratic and human-rights-based governance of multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-faith societies.

The democratic opening presented by Nigeria's successful transition to civil rule (June 1998 to May 1999) unleashed a host of hitherto repressed or dormant political forces. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate between genuine demands by these forces on the state and outright criminality and mayhem. Post-transition Nigeria is experiencing the proliferation of ethnic militia movements purportedly representing, and seeking to protect, their ethnic interests in a country, which appears incapable of providing the basic welfare needs of its citizens.It is against the background of collective disenchantment with the Nigerian state, and the resurgence of ethnic identity politics that this research interrogates the growing challenge posed by ethnic militias to the Nigerian democracy project. The central thesis is that the over-centralization of power in Nigeria 's federal practice and the failure of post-transitional politics in genuinely addressing the "National Question," has resulted in the emergence of ethnic militias as a specific response to state incapacity. The short- and long-term threats posed by this development to Nigeria 's fragile democracy are real, and justify the call for a National Conference that will comprehensively address the demands of the ethnic nationalities.

This book ​makes a timely contribution to the analysis of nationalism and terrorism, and also the absence of terrorism. It proposes to analyse why Scottish, Welsh and English nationalism has never had as significant a turn to political violence as the case of Irish nationalism has. This will answer a question which is too rarely asked ‘why do certain groups not turn to terrorism?’ Nick Brooke makes an important contribution to debates on nationalism in the United Kingdom, as well as to debates on the relationship between nationalism and terrorism. Furthermore, the text provides complete narrative accounts of nationalist terrorism in Scotland, Wales and England, and considers how recent political developments impact the likelihood of further nationalist terrorism.