Basque Nationalism and The Spiral of Silence
- iratisaenz
- 11 feb 2015
- 2 Min. de lectura
In order to understand the Spiral of Silence theory a little bit better we were told to read some interesting pages of a study made in 2008 by Spencer AT and Croucher, S.M. The study is called: Basque Nationalism and the Spiral of Silence An Analysis of Public Perceptions of ETA in Spain and France; and it "represents a test of the spiral of silence theory across national boundaries regarding the Basque separatist group, ETA".
Before we see the relation that the study found between the Basque nationalism and the Spiral of Silence I think it is important to remember the roots of the Basque identity and ETA.
During Franco´s dictatorship the Basques were not allowed to speak their own language, which has always been in what the identity of the Basque people centers around. This is because the Basque language is one of a very few non-Indo-European tongues spoken in Europe and it is very complex and concentrated.
Basque nationalism developed in the 1890s with the foundation of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). They believed that isolatig from the rest of the country was the only way to preserve the Basque identity. Then, some radical members split off from the party to form Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA).
Basque Country has been identified with ETA and its violent acts. Actually, Basque identity has become synonymous with violence and terrorism.
Spiral of Silence
First we need to go back and remember that this theory focuses on a person’s willingness to voice their opinions on something depending on whether they feel they are in the majority viewpoint or the minority one.
To detect the spiral of silence in a population there are 4 theses:
Most people are afraid of becoming isolated by their views.
People observe the attitudes of others around them and express their own views accordingly.
The individual will attempt to discern which viewpoints can be expressed without creating a sense of isolation.
A person will be more likely to express a viewpoint if the viewpoint concurs with the majority´s opinion and less likely to express an opinion if it is not consistent with the climate of opinion.
Moving on to the most significant results or conclusions that we can take from the study we can see that the individuals who perceive themselves as in the minority opinion are less likely to voice opposition to the Basque separatist group.
Something we can also take from the study is that the Spanish residents have a more unfavourable opinion of ETA than Basque residents. This would be due to the ingroup/outgroup dichotomy, since ETA is perceived as part of the Basque populance.
The study also points out that French residents will have a less unfavorable opinion of ETA than Spanish or Basque residents because Spanish people, both Basque and non-Basque, are closer to the violence, so they are more afraid to speak out against ETA than a French.
Thus, there is less fear of isolation in France than in Spain, which causes a stronger spiral of silence effect in Spain and the Basque Country than in France.
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