The Case of the Catalans by Clara Ponsati sampler
Imagine if your country voted to become independent and that vote was then ignored. This was what the people of Catalonia faced in 2017 when Catalonian pro-independence leaders organised a referendum vote that was declared illegal by Spain’s constitutional court. Following that declaration of the illegitimatcy of the referendum, Clara Ponsatí, Education Minister, along with Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont were charged with sedition. They had to leave Catalonia and go into self-imposed exile, and seven of their former cabinet colleagues were imprisoned. The Case of the Catalans is a landmark book that explains the injustice Catalans have faced by being marginalised with their political beliefs rendered unlawful by the Spanish government.In this book, Ponsatí and her team of influential academics discuss the future of the Catalan people and the political and social tensions that led to the famous ‘illegal’ referendum. In a clear and accessible style, they aim to educate as many people as possible, whether interested in politics or not, about the extraordinarily backward democratic process that currently defines Spain’s national identity and has defied the settled will of the Catalan people.
Imagine if your country voted to become independent and that vote was then ignored. This was what the people of Catalonia faced in 2017 when Catalonian pro-independence leaders organised a referendum vote that was declared illegal by Spain’s constitutional court.
Following that declaration of the illegitimatcy of the referendum, Clara Ponsatí, Education Minister, along with Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont were charged with sedition. They had to leave Catalonia and go into self-imposed exile, and seven of their former cabinet colleagues were imprisoned. The Case of the Catalans is a landmark book that explains the injustice Catalans have faced by being marginalised with their political beliefs rendered unlawful by the Spanish government.In this book, Ponsatí and her team of influential academics discuss the future of the Catalan people and the political and social tensions that led to the famous ‘illegal’ referendum. In a clear and accessible style, they aim to educate as many people as possible, whether interested in politics or not, about the extraordinarily backward democratic process that currently defines Spain’s national identity and has defied the settled will of the Catalan people.
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Franco’s long- lasting repression 73<br />
A window <strong>of</strong> opportunity: Transition years 74<br />
Bibliographical note78<br />
3 THE STORY OF A CONSTITUTIONAL<br />
DISAGREEMENT81<br />
Tensions between autonomy<br />
and recentralisation 84<br />
Fishing in <strong>the</strong> Spanish C<strong>of</strong>fee Pot, 1980–2004 88<br />
<strong>The</strong> reformed Catalan Statute <strong>of</strong> Autonomy 91<br />
Bibliographical note 95<br />
4 VOTERS AND PARTIES MARCH<br />
TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE 97<br />
<strong>The</strong> reasons behind <strong>the</strong> surge in<br />
support for independence 99<br />
After <strong>the</strong> realignment: 2013–7 105<br />
Who supports independence? 106<br />
Who is leading? <strong>The</strong> role <strong>of</strong> parties<br />
and social movements 108<br />
Political parties, instability 111<br />
Impossible compromise 116<br />
Bibliographical note 118<br />
5 THE ECONOMIC COSTS AND<br />
BENEFITS OF INDEPENDENCE 119<br />
Greater political power means better<br />
economic opportunities 125<br />
<strong>The</strong> costs <strong>of</strong> political disintegration 128<br />
THE CASE OF THE CATALANS 9
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