With his book, Jaime Lluch makes an important contribution to the study of nationalism, secession, and political party systems in multinational states. Lluch offers a range of convincing theoretical and empirical arguments to account for the variation in nationalist preferences, including independentism, autonomism, and federalism. This is an extremely well-researched, convincing, and highly readable investigation of the tripartite taxonomy in nationalist movements: why some nationalist parties seek secession while others aim to establish autonomous special status within the existing state, and still others are satisfied with federal arrangements. Hence, Visions of Sovereignty seeks to explain an intriguing puzzle in nationalism studies whereby nationalist parties have “different visions of sovereignty”; it does so eloquently and persuasively by focusing on the range of nationalist parties in two important substate nationalist societies, Catalonia and Québec.
The book’s major contribution lies in its clear presentation of a novel theory, the “moral polity thesis,” to account for the variation in nationalists’ institutional preferences. Lluch argues that nationalists “consider themselves to be living in a state that is a ‘moral polity’ where social reciprocities are expected and notions of collective dignity, the commonweal, and mutual accommodation are essential to guarantee statewide solidarity and mutual understanding” (pp. 267–68). The radicalization of nationalist preferences toward autonomy or secession can be explained when nationalists believe that their “expectations of reciprocity [with the state] have been violated” (p. 268).
This theoretical contribution hinging on norms of reciprocity between substate nationalist groups (or “stateless nations”) and the majority nation in the context of the moral polity is an interesting and potentially significant theoretical departure for the field of nationalism. Indeed, Lluch argues that existing theories that hold the formation of national consciousness important for the emergence of a secessionist agenda cannot account for the variation in preferences, including secessionist and various nonsecessionist aspirations. He also refutes the utility of the existing materialist perspective and argues that the “preference-formation processes of nationalists can hardly be explained with instrumental-rational arguments, that is, as a means to a self-interested end,” particularly as such an approach pays little attention to cultural and identity concerns and power relations (p. 24). He is also critical of macro-level theories and structural conditions, instead highlighting the role of agency in nationalism and the importance of discourse, attitudes, and beliefs of the various nationalist parties. His moral polity thesis will help inform the ongoing scholarly debates on majority/minority relations in multinational democracies and deeply divided societies where minority groups’ expectations of mutual reciprocity with the state may be in short supply.
Visions of Sovereignty is based on intensive and extensive research in both Québec and Catalonia, with fieldwork conducted over a period of several years. Adopting a research design of within-case analysis, Lluch is interested in explaining the positive cases that express the expected outcome (independentist national parties) and the negative cases (autonomy and pro-federation national parties) in each society. With the nationalist political party as the unit of analysis, is fieldwork focused on eight national parties with analysis of party documents from 1976 to 2010, 42 in-depth interviews with party leaders, 15 focus groups with party members/militants, and a survey of party militants that produced 370 responses. The empirical chapters are based on a robust research design and a wealth of data; indeed, much of the discussion of the parties is brimming with fascinating quotes and insights emanating from the data.
As an added dimension to explaining the internal variation in nationalist movements, the book investigates how nationalist movements vary over time. To explain within-case temporal variation, Lluch explores when and how new political orientations that embody a radicalization of the nationalist movement are established. Each of the two societies under investigation has witnessed a radicalization of nationalist preferences over time and the transformation of the respective party systems: the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, which adopted a secessionist agenda in the late 1980s, and the founding of the Action Démocratique du Québec, an autonomist party, in 1994. His findings highlight the role of the “tipping point” whereby a novel political orientation in the national movement is established, explained by the interaction of four factors: preexistent ideology, central-state constitutional moment, impulse from civil society, and the formation of a new leadership (p.33).
Based on careful exploration of the genesis/transformation of the two relevant parties, the book further adds to our understanding of how national movements may shift over time and become radicalized. Bolstering his moral polity thesis, Lluch leads us to consider how constitutional moments can help shape the intersubjective relations of reciprocity between the stateless nation and the majority nation, potentially leading to the formation of a new nationalist political orientation. He develops these insights in the Conclusion, suggesting that Catalonia has more recently experienced a constitutional moment, given the tension between Spanish constitutionalism and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy (2006) and the Catalan government’s referendum on secession (p. 277). As the related political developments in Catalonia continue to unfold, the book provides scholars with enhanced conceptual tools to explain the shifts and turns within this particular case.
The findings and arguments have much to say to wider debates in comparative politics on how states can manage internal diversity, often pitted as a choice between integration and accommodation in institutional design. Lluch’s presentation of the spectrum of secessionist and nonsecessionist nationalist preferences further adds to our understanding of the variety of potential accommodative institutional options. Notably, the category of autonomist parties can include instrumental autonomists (whereby autonomy is viewed as a means to achieve self-determination goals but does not rule out independence at some future point) and teleological autonomists who view autonomy as their ultimate self-determination goal. Lluch also shows that substate federalists can have a strong sense of minority-nation national identification, along the same lines as substate autonomist and secessionist parties. Substate federalists also vary in terms of their preference for strongly asymmetric federalism or weaker asymmetry. There is much, then, to be understood in the internal heterogeneity within nationalist movements.
Finally, Visions of Sovereignty points to potentially useful policy implications. At its core, the book stresses the nature of relations between the state/majority nation and the substate nation. Of vital concern for political stability is whether members of the substate nation/stateless nation perceive that the state treats their group fairly in a spirit of “feelings of solidarity, trust, and social unity” (p. 268). Lluch suggests that state institutions need to promote the norms of reciprocity and accommodation in the interests of stability. Overall, there is much to commend in this recent addition to the scholarship on nationalism: the presentation of an original theoretical contribution and enhanced understanding of the variation in national movements based on rich data in Québec and Catalonia. It offers a promising comparative research agenda for scholars and students of stateless nations in multinational democracies.
