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The identity politics of multicultural nationalism: A comparison between the regular public addresses of the Belgian and the Spanish monarchs (1990–2000)
Author(s) -
Maddens Bart,
Berghe Kristine Vanden
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6765.00097
Subject(s) - nationalism , multiculturalism , politics , unitary state , harmony (color) , ethnic group , democracy , sociology , national identity , gender studies , state (computer science) , nation state , political economy , identity (music) , political science , law , anthropology , aesthetics , art , philosophy , algorithm , computer science , visual arts
. A nation‐state confronted by sub‐national claims may opt for a corporatist or managerial approach, where the centre accommodates ethnic and regional claims and at the same time develops an identity politics of multicultural or multination nationalism. In this way, it is attempted to re‐legitimise the nation as a community that allows different cultural and ethnic groups to live together in harmony. On the basis of a comparative analysis of the regular public addresses of the monarchs in the period 1990–2000, this article investigates to what extent Belgium and Spain have adopted such a strategy of multicultural nationalism. It is shown that multiculturalism is the core value of the Belgian nationalist discourse, in the sense that the Belgian nation is constantly defined in terms of its constituent cultural segments. The Spanish nationalist discourse is predominantly unitary and hardly reflects the compound nature of the state. Democracy is the core value of this discourse. It is argued that the more unitary representation of the Spanish nation is due to the lack of elitist consensus about the compound nature of the state and the dominant position of Hispanic culture.