Radical Democracy in the Basque National Liberation Movement

Abstract

The paradigm of radical democracy is one of the most important revolutionary movements, mainly, given the rise of European nationalist movements. The fact of placing democracy among the nationalist discourse has caused deep changes within nationalism. The Basque National Liberation Movement (i.e. ENAM) is a clear example of this phenomenon in the Basque Country. From the discourse based on national legitimacy to the discourse based on democratic legitimacy; from Marxist terminology and the right of self-determination to having radical democracy and the right to decide as a core idea, from negotiation strategy to populist strategy through process, etc. Nevertheless, without putting aside the nation and class conflict, nowadays, ENAM is in an ambivalent position between ideological historical summary, nationalism and Marxism, and the radical democracy.