Building the Basque City: The Political Economy of Nation-Building

The book presents a novel perspective in which the Spanish state formation and Basque nationalism develop in complex ways of antagonism and complementarity. The book questions the very notion of the Basque Country and its implications in the new global context. It examines critically some of the key institutions, territories, social practices and collective representations that historically have constituted the Basque Country. One of the most contentious current projects in the articulation of the Basque territory, conflating opposing political agendas and economic outlooks, is the High Speed Train.  The author studies this project in depth to come up with valid lessons regarding the need for infrastructural development and communication between the Basque region, Spain and the European Union. The value of the work rests in her simultaneously viewing the need for inter-dependencies as well as the resulting social conflicts and strategic contradictions emerging from various constituenci