Territorial Identity in Europe: the Political Processes of the Construction of Identities in Corsica, the Basque Country, Italy, Macedonia and the Swiss Jura

Abstract

Jean-Louis Briquet, La tradition en mouvement. Clientélisme et politique en Corse (Paris: Belin, 1997), 303 pp. ISBN 2–701–12079–9.

Barbara Loyer, Géopolitique du Pays basque. Nations et nationalismes en Espagne (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1997), 416 pp. ISBN 2–738–45089–X.

Carl Levy, ed., Italian Regionalism. History, Identity and Politics (Oxford/Washington, DC: Berg, 1996), 197 pp. ISBN 1–859–73156–2.

Peter Mackridge and Eleni Yannakis, eds., Ourselves and Others. The Development of a Greek Macedonian Cultural Identity since 1912 (Oxford/New York: Berg, 1997), 259 pp. ISBN 1–859–73138–4.

Claude Hauser, Aux origines intellectuelles de la Question jurassienne. Culture et politique entre la France et la Suisse romande (1910–1950) (Courrendelin: Editions communication jurassienne et européenne (CJE), 1997), 528 pp. ISBN 2–940–11204–5.

Any examination of political movements that claim a basis in territorial and cultural identity tends to come up against a major obstacle, the problem of tracing the reasons for their emergence. There are two competing approaches: the ’culturalist‘, which considers cultural differences among communities as being themselves the chief cause of conflict; and the ’instrumentalist‘, which holds that those differences are exploited and manipulated by individuals or groups seeking to acquire or maintain a position of power.