Sovereignty, Prefigurative Politics, and Basques’ Joy to Decide

GAZTAÑAGA, JULIETA

Social Analysis

Berghahn

Año: 2021 vol. 65 p. 22 - 43

0155-977X

The literature about Basque politics and the anthropology of sovereignty often define the political within the boundaries of violence, desire, and statehood: a sort of pessimism pervades the general assumptions and the end results. In this article, I shift the focus to a different aspect of the problem of sovereignty, drawing on ethnographic research about a Basque social movement that asserts self-determination in terms of a democratic and pacifist ?Right to Decide?. Exploring the movement?s organization, daily activities, performances, sociality, and discourses, I argue that they prefigure political pleasure in a way that encourages the performance of sovereignty as a positive force. I show how the movement creates an environment in which producing sovereignty becomes a joyful experience.