With his personal, in-depth knowledge of the situation of Catalonia and the Basque Country, Antoni Batista reflects on the evolution of the idea of "nation" in both countries. He suggests that 21st century states can no longer be built on ...

With his personal, in-depth knowledge of the situation of Catalonia and the Basque Country, Antoni Batista reflects on the evolution of the idea of "nation" in both countries. He suggests that 21st century states can no longer be built on the traditional lines of territory, race and language alone. Increasingly, ‘nations’ are also based on symbolic elements such as culture, tradition and common law, including the hymns, flags and songs that people make their own... In the course of history, Euskadi and Catalonia have settled on completely different symbolic forms of identity. One side is based on the convex idea of an atavistic struggle, the interiorisation of resistence. The other uses a concave system of integration, social cohesion and agreement. But times are changing. The end of violence in the Basque Country is an ambitious step towards a concave approach, while Catalonia is facing the challenge of a renewed, transversal, cordial independence movement.