Under Pressure: Young Adult's Reflections on National Identity in Context of the Catalan Independence Movement

Abstract

"Globalisation has made many young adults identify cross borders and cross culturally. Research has been done on the impact of globalisation on the national identification processes among young adults, however, these studies often did not take identity-threatening context into account. The aim of this research has been to investigate how young adults construct their national identity in the context of secessionist tensions. Barcelona was chosen as research location, since the context of the Catalan independence movement creates tension between two national identities: The Catalan and the Spanish one. In a period of ten weeks, spreading from February until April 2018, interviews were carried out among twenty-one young adults. Casual conversation and participant observation were included in the ethnographic fieldwork. The study showed that the context of secessionist tensions increased the consciousness of national identity among young adults. As a result, identification processes became stressed, selective and contextual, meaning that young adults only chose specific times to show their membership to the nation. Secondly, the paradoxical relation between national identification and values of globalisation led to difficulties. Lastly, many young adults felt ambivalent about the nation. Informants declared to have sentiments for the nation, but trivialised them for they contradict the ideology of global identification. This research mainly shows that national identification is a complex, multifaceted process. Young adults are struggling with their opinions and thoughts while they feel pressure from their social environment. They are continuously adjusting to the socio-political context."