Project Description

The project “Gender, Borders, Memory” (GBM) aimed to understand the role and influence of gender and memory within border contestations of the liberal script. We examined the extent to which gender and history condition border definitions and border contestations in liberal regimes. To this end, the project conducted a case study of Catalan nationalism, both its historical origins and iteration during the early 20th century, as well as the contemporary separatist movement.

Research Questions

The project's main line of research questioned: What is the relationship between gender, historical memory, and contestations of the liberal (border) script? Within this framework, we examine two core questions. The first will focus on the role of gender and contestation in the recent transition from devolution to separatism. It asked: How does gender identity and gendered memory impact Catalan national identity formation on the individual level and participation in the Catalan independence movement?

The second research focus provided an analysis of the separatist movement’s entanglement with historical references such as the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the early regional feminist movement. There were two guiding questions: How does the contemporary separatist movement use historical reference points, including gender norms, activism and imagery, to draw an ideological border between Catalonia and Spain? Does this present a contestation of the liberal script?

Research Approach

The project’s methods were based on interviews, qualitative document analysis as well as political official and non-official statements, and survey experiments. Historical analysis allowed us to generate categories for use in the survey experiments and interviews, which then enabled us to assess the spread and rootedness of (nationalist) historical narratives within the Catalan population. In a broader sense, the GBM team collectively examined and analysed if and how gender and historical memory may help us understand contemporary movements calling for self-determination. This way, we were able to better understand the gendered dimensions of the liberal border script.

Relation to the Liberal Script

Gender and Borders constitute principal, if seemingly contradictory, categories of the liberal script. The individual freedom to cross borders collides with the state’s policy to manage, secure, and even shut down borders. Gender, in turn, encourages an understanding of borders that does not merely frame the same as lines to cross or block but as historical and contemporary areas and situations to live in, live with, and live around, as well as a way to examine narratives of belonging and un-belonging. Complicating the analysis of borders as immaterial and using the case of Catalonia’s quest for secession, the project exposed how narratives linking borders, gender, history and liberalism have moulded and continue to shape both arguments for and against territorial and mental secession.

Core Findings

Theoretical Insights: The project highlighted that separatism poses an unresolved challenge within the liberal script, as the script does not specify how borders should be drawn. Separatist groups leverage the principle of self-determination, a core liberal value, to justify their claims for independent states, often positioning themselves as more aligned with liberal ideals than the states they seek to leave. However, both liberal nation-states and separatist movements historically rely on nationalism, which depends on creating distinctions between "us" and "them" through racial and gendered identities. This reliance on racial and gender hierarchies explains why efforts to promote inclusion and gender equality can destabilize nation-states, as such hierarchies are fundamental to maintaining national borders and identity.

Empirical Findings: Catalan feminist nationalists integrate feminism into their vision of Catalan independence, aiming to liberate Catalonia from both Spanish rule and patriarchal oppression. This feminist presence has diversified Catalan nationalism, with some interpretations advocating a more inclusive national identity that is neither strictly masculine nor feminine. However, exclusive strands of Catalan nationalism continue to valorise masculinity while rejecting feminine traits.

Historically, early 20th-century Catalan nationalism was rooted in racism, colonialism, and patriarchalism, relegating women to domestic roles. Catalan suffragettes argued for political inclusion by positioning themselves as cultural guardians and educators of true Catalan men. They criticized Spaniards' behaviour, likening it to that of Moroccans, to underscore their perceived racial and cultural superiority.

Academic Innovations

The project, conducted as an interdisciplinary effort between History and Political Science, emphasized the necessity of historical context to understand current liberal script contestations. Methodologically, the research innovated by incorporating gender as an analytical category, challenging previous assumptions within the SCRIPTS cluster. This approach was applied on four levels: empirically examining feminists in Catalonia, investigating societal roles attributed to genders, analysing gendering processes, and using gender as a category of historical analysis to explore power dynamics and hierarchies.

Publications

Heß, Johannes / Klee, Tobias 2021: Masculine Nations, Female Personifications. The Gendered Imagery of Nationalism, SCRIPTS Think Piece No. 9.

Çağlar, Gülay / Gienow-Hecht, Jessica 2024: Contesting Borders. Towards a Gender Analysis of Secessionism. Historical and Political Science Perspectives, SCRIPTS Working Paper No. 47, Berlin: Cluster of Excellence 2055 “Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS)”.