Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-bthnr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-06-05T07:20:44.544Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gender, Nation, and Situated Intersectionality: The Case of Catalan Pro-independence Feminism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2019

Maria Rodó-Zárate
Maria Rodó-Zárate*
Affiliation:
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Debates on nation, self-determination, and nationalism tend to ignore the gender dimension, women's experiences, and feminist proposals on such issues. In turn, feminist discussions on the intersection of oppressions generally avoid the national identity of stateless nations as a source of oppression. In this article, I relate feminism and nationalism through an intersectional framework in the context of the Catalan pro-independence movement. Since the 1970s, Catalan feminists have been developing theories and practices that relate gender and nationality from an intersectional perspective, which may challenge hegemonic genealogies of intersectionality and general assumptions about the relation between nationalism and gender. Focusing on developments made by feminist activists from past and present times, I argue that women are key agents in national construction and that situated intersectional frameworks may provide new insights into relations among axes of inequalities beyond the Anglocentric perspective.

Keywords

NationalismfeminismintersectionalityCatalonia

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 608 - 636
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Aatar, Fátima. 2018. “Cuando la desobediencia se racializa” [When disobedience is racialized]. In Tierra de nadie: Perspectivas feministas sobre la independencia [No one's land: Feminist perspectives on independence], ed. Gatamaula. Barcelona: Pol·len Edicions, 221–25.Google Scholar
Alexander-Floyd, Nikol G. 2012. “Disappearing Acts: Reclaiming Intersectionality in the Social Sciences in a Post-black Feminist Era.” Feminist Formations 24 (1): 1–25.10.1353/ff.2012.0003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alonso, Alba. 2018. “Thriving or Dividing? The Women's Movement and the Independence Referenda in Scotland and Catalonia.” Politics & Gender 14 (3): 460–82.10.1017/S1743923X18000235CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amurrio Vélez, Mila. 2002. “El proceso de construcción generizada de la nación vasca” [The process of gendered construction of the Basque nation]. Euskonews & Media 192: 13–20.Google Scholar
Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Anthias, Floya, and Yuval-Davis, Nira. 1983. “Contextualizing Feminism: Gender, Ethnic and Class Divisions.” Feminist Review, no. 15: 62–75.Google Scholar
Anthias, Floya, and Yuval-Davis, Nira. 1992. Racialized Boundaries: Race, Nation, Gender, Colour and Class and the Anti-racist Struggle. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Feminista, Bilgune. 2015. Jostorratzak dantzan ditugu, hacia la soberania feminista de Euskal Herria [Toward feminist sovereignty of Euskal Herria]. Ondarru.Google Scholar
Feminista, Bilgune. 2016. “Feminismos y procesos de autodeterminación de los pueblos: Miradas, estrategias y solidaridades” [Feminisms and processes of people's self-determination: Perspectives, strategies, and solidarities]. In Jornades Radical-ment feministes. Barcelona: Xarxa Feminista de Catalunya.Google Scholar
Billig, Michael. 1995. Banal Nationalism. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Boyd, Cat, and Morrison, Jenny. 2014. Scottish Independence: A Feminist Response. Edinburgh: Word Power Books.Google Scholar
Busquets i Grabulosa, Lluís. 1980. Plomes catalanes contemporànies [Contemporary Catalan authors]. Barcelona: Grup Promotor, Edicions del Mall.Google Scholar
Capmany, Maria Aurèlia. 1973. El Feminsme a Catalunya [Feminism in Catalonia]. Barcelona: Editorial Nova Terra.Google Scholar
Capmany, Maria Aurèlia. 1977. “Contra qui lluita la dona?” [Against whom are women struggling?]. In Secretariat de Les Jornades: Jornades Catalanes de la Dona [Catalan Women's Meeting secretariat]. Barcelona: Documentación y Publicaciones Generales.Google Scholar
Carastathis, Anna. 2016. Intersectionality: Origins, Contestations, Horizons. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.10.2307/j.ctt1fzhfz8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Celis, Karen, Mackay, Fiona, and Meier, Petra. 2013. “Social Movement Organizations and Changing State Architectures: Comparing Women's Movement Organizing in Flanders and Scotland.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 43 (1): 44–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cho, Sumi, Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams, and McCall, Leslie. 2013. “Toward a Field of Intersectionality Studies: Theory, Applications, and Praxis.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 38 (4): 785–810.10.1086/669608CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Combahee River Collective. [1977] 1983. “A Black Feminist Statement.” In This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, eds. Moraga, Cherrie and Anzaldúa, Gloria. New York: Kitchen Table, Women of Color Press, 210–18.Google Scholar
Conca, Maria. 2012. “Tres voltes rebel: El compromís nacional, de classe i feminista de Maria-Mercè Marçal (PSAN 1976–1980)” [Three times rebel: Maria-Mercè Marçal's engagement with national, class, and feminist issues]. In III Jornades Marçalianes. Sabadell: Fundació Maria-Mercè Marçal, 23–49.Google Scholar
Congrés del PSAN [First PSAN Congress]. 1978. “La lluita per l'alliberament de la dona” [The struggle for women's liberation]. In Materials de treball del 1r. Congrés. Sollana: Gràfiques Sollana.Google Scholar
Cooper, Brittney. 2015. “Intersectionality.” In The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory, eds. Disch, Lisa and Hawkesworth., Maryhttps://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328581.013.20.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum 140: 139–67.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43 (6): 1241–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curiel, Ochy. 2013. La Nación Heterosexual [The heterosexual nation]. Bogotá: Brecha Lésbica.Google Scholar
Enloe, Cynthia. 1990. Bananas, Beaches, and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Espinosa, Yuderkys. 2007. Escritos de una lesbiana oscura: Reflexiones críticas sobre feminismo y política de identidad en América Latina [Writings from a dark lesbian: Critical reflections on feminism and identity politics in Latin America]. Buenos Aires: En la Frontera.Google Scholar
Díez, Francés, Ángels, Maria. 2010. “‘La llengua sóc jo’: Identitat nacional i de gènere en Montserrat Roig” [Language is me: National and gender identity in Montserrat Roig]. Anuari de l'Agrupació Borrianenca de Cultura: Revista de recerca humanística i científica, no. 21: 47–62.Google Scholar
Gandarias Goikoetxea, Itziar. 2017. “¿Un neologismo a la moda? Repensar la interseccionalidad como herramienta para la articulación política feminista.” [A trendy neologism? Rethinking intersectionality as a tool for feminist political articulation]. Investigacones Feministas 8 (1): 73–93.Google Scholar
Gatamaula. 2018. Tierra de nadie: Perspectivas feministas sobre la independencia [No one's land: Feminist perspectives on independence]. Barcelona: Pol·len Edicions.Google Scholar
Gibernau, Montserrat. 2014. “Prospects for an Independent Catalonia.” International Journal of Political and Cultural Sociology 27 (1): 5–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gleason, Gregory. 1991. “Nationalism in Our Time.” Current World Leaders 34 (2): 213–34.Google Scholar
Hancock, Ange-Marie. 2012. “Empirical Intersectionality: A Tale of Two Approaches.” University of California, Irvine Law Review 3 (2): 259–96.Google Scholar
Hancock, Ange-Marie. 2016. Intersectionality: An Intellectual History. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199370368.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harding, Sandra, ed. 2004. The Feminist Standpoint. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hasso, Frances S. 1998. “The ‘Women's Front’: Nationalism, Feminism, and Modernity in Palestine.” Gender & Society 12 (4): 441–65.10.1177/089124398012004005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill Collins, Patricia. 1990. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Power and the Politics of Empowerment. Boston: Unwin Hyman.Google Scholar
Hill Collins, Patricia, and Bilge, Sirma. 2016. Intersectionality. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
hooks, bell. 1981. Ain't I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism. Boston: South End Press.Google Scholar
hooks, bell. 1984. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. Boston: South End Press.Google Scholar
Jacoby, Tami Amanda. 1999. “Gendered Nation: A History of the Interface of Women's Protest and Jewish Nationalism in Israel.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 1 (3): 382–402.10.1080/146167499359808CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jayawardena, Kumari. 1986. Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Jordan-Zachery, Julia A. 2007. “Am I a Black Woman or a Woman Who Is Black? A Few Thoughts on the Meaning of Intersectionality.” Politics & Gender 3 (2): 254–63.Google Scholar
Julià, Lluïsa. 2017. Maria-Mercè Marçal: Una vida [Maria-Mercè Marçal: A life]. Barcelona: Galàxia Gutenberg.Google Scholar
Kaplan, Gisela. 1997. “Feminism and Nationalism: The European Case.” In Feminist Nationalism, ed. West, Lois A.. New York: Routledge, 3–40.Google Scholar
Kenny, Meryl, and Verge, Tània. 2013. “Decentralization, Political Parties, and Women's Representation: Evidence from Spain and Britain.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 43 (1): 109–28.10.1093/publius/pjs023CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Anne, and Cardinal, Linda. 1998. “Hegemonic Nationalism and the Politics of Feminism and Multiculturalism in Canada.” In Painting the Maple: Essays on Race, Gender and the Construction of Canada, eds. Strong-Boag, Veronica, Grace, Sherrill, Anderson, Joan, and Eisenberg, Avigail. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 215–41.Google Scholar
Lorde, Audre. 1984. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Trumansburg, NY: Crossing Press.Google Scholar
Maillé, Chantal. 2002. Cherchez la femme: Trente ans de débats constitutionnnels au Québec [Looking for the woman: 30 years of constitutional debates in Quebec]. Montreal: Éditions du remue-ménage.Google Scholar
Maillé, Chantal. 2007. “Réception de la théorie postcoloniale dans le féminisme Québécois” [Reception of postcolonial theory in Quebec's feminism]. Les féminismes 20 (2): 91–111.Google Scholar
Maillé, Chantal. 2012. “Transnational Feminisms in Francophonie Space.” Women: A Cultural Review 23 (1): 62–78.Google Scholar
Marçal, Maria-Mercè. 1977. Cau de llunes [Moons’ lair]. Barcelona: Proa.Google Scholar
Marçal, Maria-Mercè. 1978. “El partit i l'alliberament de la dona” [The party and women's liberation]. Lluita, no. 71: 6–7.Google Scholar
Marçal, Maria-Mercè. 1979a. “Moviment d'alliberament nacional i moviment feminista: Com interrelacionar-los” [National liberation movement and feminist movement: How to relate them]. Attachment to Francesc Codina i Valls, “Maria-Mercè Marçal i la renovació del discurs polític: Del PSAN a Nacionalistes d'Esquerra (1979–1984)” [Maria-Mercè Marçal and the renovation of political discourse: From PSAN to Leftist Nationalists (1979–1984)], in III Jornades Marçalianes, 2012. Sabadell: Fundació Maria-Mercè Marçal, 49–83.Google Scholar
Marçal, Maria-Mercè. 1979b. “Vuit de Març” [Eighth of March]. Lluita, no. 1, segona època. 9.Google Scholar
Marçal, Maria-Mercè. 1985. La germana, l'estrangera (1981–1984) [The sister, the foreigner]. Sant Boi de Llobregat: Llibres del Mall.Google Scholar
Marçal, Maria-Mercè. 1989. Llengua abolida (1973–1988) [Abolished language]. Barcelona: Eliseu Climent.Google Scholar
Marçal, Maria-Mercè, and Costa, Anna. 1977. “Dia 8 de març: Jornada de mobilització popular per l'alliberament de la dona” [Eighth of March: A day of mass mobilization for women's liberation]. Lluita, no. 63.Google Scholar
May, Vivian M. 2015. Pursuing Intersectionality: Unsettling Dominant Imaginaries. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203141991CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, Tamar. 2000. Gender Ironies of Nationalism: Sexing the Nation. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
McClintock, Anne. 1993. “Family Feuds: Gender, Nationalism and the Family.” Feminist Review, no. 44: 61–80.10.1057/fr.1993.21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McRoberts, Kenneth. 2004. “The Future of the Nation-State and Québec Canada Relations.” In The Fate of the Nation-State, ed. Seymour, Michael. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 390–402.Google Scholar
Mendoza, Breny. 2010. “La epistemología del sur: La colonialidad del género y el feminismo latinoamericano” [Epistemology of the south: Gender coloniality and Latin American feminism]. In Aproximaciones críticas a las prácticas teórico-políticas del feminismo latinoamericano [Critical approaches to theoretical-political practices of Latin American feminism], ed. Miñoso, Y. Espinosa. Buenos Aires: En la Frontera.Google Scholar
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. 1988. “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourse.” Feminist Review, no. 30. 61–88.Google Scholar
Moraga, Cherrie, and Anzaldúa, Gloria, eds. 1983. This Bridge Called My Back: Writing by Radical Women of Color. Watertown, MA: Persephone Press.Google Scholar
Muñoz, Jordi, and Guinjoan, Marc. 2013. “Accounting for Internal Variation in Nationalist Mobilization: Unofficial Referendums for Independence in Catalonia (2009–2011).” Nations and Nationalism 19 (1): 44–67.10.1111/nana.12006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagel, Joane. 1998. “Masculinity and Nationalism: Gender and Sexuality in the Making of Nations.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 21 (2): 242–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nieto-Gómez, Anna. 1974. “La Feminista” [The feminist]. Encuentro Femenil: The First Feminist Journal 1(2): 58–77.Google Scholar
Olivares, Maria, Masó, Carme, Duran, Eulèlia, Gusi, Tona, Marçal, Maria-Mercè, and Sentís, Sonsoles. 1982. “Dona i Nació: Feminisme i Nacionalisme” [Woman and nation: Feminism and nationalism]. Text written for Segones Jornades Catalanes de la Dona.Google Scholar
Ortiz, Daniela. 2018. “Cataluña, colonialidad y racismo institucional” [Catalonia, coloniality, and institutional racism]. In Tierra de nadie: Perspectivas feministas sobre la independencia [No one's land: Feminist perspectives on independence], ed. Gatamaula. Barcelona; Pol·len Edicions, 317–23.Google Scholar
Palau, Montserrat. 2015. “Gender and Nation: Conditioned Identities.” In Conditioned Identities: Wished-for and Unwished-for Identities, ed. Flocel Sabaté. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Pàmies, Teresa. 1976. Maig de les dones. Crònica d'unes Jornades. [May of women: Report on a meeting]. Barcelona, Laia.Google Scholar
Pateman, Carole. 1988. The Sexual Contract. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Peterson, V. Spike. 1994. “Gendered nationalism.” Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 6 (1): 77–83.10.1080/10402659408425777CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, V. Spike. 1999. “Political Identities/Nationalism as Heterosexism.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 1 (1): 34–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puar, Jasbir. 2007. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puar, Jasbir. 2012. “’I Would Rather Be a Cyborg than a Goddess’: Intersectionality, Assemblage, and Affective Politics.” Philosophia 2 (1): 49–66.Google Scholar
Rico, Guillem, and Liñeira, Robert. 2014. “Bringing Secessionism into the Mainstream: The 2012 Regional Election in Catalonia.” South European Society and Politics 19 (2): 257–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodó-de-Zárate, Maria. 2014. “Developing Geographies of Intersectionality with Relief Maps: Reflections from Youth Research in Manresa, Catalonia.” Gender, Place & Culture 21 (8): 925–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodon, Toni, and Guinjoan, Marc. 2018. “When the Context Matters: Identity, Secession and the Spatial Dimension in Catalonia.” Political Geography 63: 75–87.10.1016/j.polgeo.2018.01.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez, Eugeni, and Pujol, Joan, eds. 2008. Dels drets a les llibertats: Una història política de l'alliberament gai a Catalunya (FAGC 1986–2006) [From rights to freedom: A history of gay liberation politics in Catalonia (FAGC 1986–2006)]. Bilbao: Virus Editorial.Google Scholar
Roig, Montserrat. 1991. Digues que m'estimes encara que sigui mentida [Tell me you love me even if it is a lie]. Barcelona: Edicions 62.Google Scholar
Sadurní Balcells, Núria. 2018. “LGTBI+, racismo y colonialidad: Una aproximación a la independencia desde el concepto de homonacionalismo” [LGTBI+, racism, and coloniality: An approach to independence from homonationalism]. In Tierra de nadie: Perspectivas feministas sobre la independencia [No one's land: Feminist perspectives on independence], ed. Gatamaula. Barcelona: Pol·len Edicions, 201–11.Google Scholar
Seodu Herr, Ranjoo. 2003. “The Possibility of Nationalist Feminism.” Hypatia 18 (3): 135–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Anthony D. 1971. Theories of Nationalism. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Smith, Anthony D. 1986. The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Torres, Aina. 2016. Montserrat Roig: La memoria viva [Montserrat Roig: The living memory]. València: Sembra llibres.Google Scholar
Ugalde, Mercedes. 1996. “Notas para una historiogafía sobre la nación y la diferencia sexual” [Notes for a historiography of nation and sexual difference]. Arenal: Revista de Historia de las Mujeres 3 (2): 217–56.Google Scholar
Verge, Tània, and Alonso, Alba. 2015. “The Gendered Dimensions of Constitutional Change: Women and the Independence Referendums in Scotland and Catalonia.” Democratic Audit UK (blog), December 1, 2015. http://www.democraticaudit.com/2015/12/01/the-gendered-dimensions-of-constitutional-change-women-and-the-independence-referendums-in-scotland-and-catalonia/ (accessed February 7, 2019).Google Scholar
Verge, Tània, Guinjoan, Marc, and Rodon, Toni. 2015. “Risk Aversion, Gender and Constitutional Change.” Politics & Gender 11 (3): 499–521.10.1017/S1743923X15000264CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickers, Jill. 2000. “Feminisms and Nationalisms in English Canada.” Journal of Canadian Studies 35 (2): 128–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickers, Jill. 2006. “Bringing Nations In: Some Methodological and Conceptual Issues in Connecting Feminisms with Nationhood and Nationalisms.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 8 (1): 84–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickers, Jill. 2010. “A Two-Way Street: Federalism and Women's Politics in Canada and the United States.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 40 (3): 412–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickers, Jill. 2013. “Is Federalism Gendered? Incorporating Gender into Studies of Federalism.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 43 (1): 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viveros Vigoya, Mara. 2016. “La interseccioanalidad: Una aproximación situada a la dominación” [Intersectionality: A situated approach to domination]. Debate Feminista 52: 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walby, Sylvia. 1997. Gender Transformations. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Weldon, S. Laurel. 2008. “Intersectionality.” In Politics, Gender, and Concepts: Theory and Methodology, eds. Goertz, Gary and Mazur, Amy G.. New York: Cambridge University Press, 193–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, Lois A., ed. 1997. Feminist Nationalism. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
VVAA. 1976. Jornades Catalanes de la Dona [Catalan Meeting of Woman]. (Barcelona, May 1976) Barcelona: Documentación y publicaciones generales, SA.Google Scholar
Yuval-Davis, Nira. 1993. “Gender and Nation.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 16 (4): 621–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yuval-Davis, Nira. 2011. Politics of Belonging: Intersectional Contestations. SageGoogle Scholar
Yuval-Davis, Nira. 2018. “Género, nación y política transversal” [Gender, nation, and transversal politics]. In Tierra de nadie: Perspectivas feministas sobre la independencia [No one's land: Feminist perspectives on independence], ed. Gatamaula Barcelona: Pol·len Edicions, 9–17.Google Scholar
Yuval-Davis, Nira and Anthias, Floya, eds. 1989. Woman, Nation, State. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar