Topics in Comparative Politics: The Barcelona Experience
Syllabus
Dr. Muli Peleg
The course explores the city of Barcelona as a quintessential case study of two significant
political phenomena: civil war and national separatism. We will study the role of the city as
the last bastion of democracy in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and as the capital of the
autonomous region of Cataluña with its unique culture, heritage, language and political
agenda.
Among the guiding questions we will discuss:
1) How is an exclusive national identity formed and sustained?
2) Can disparate national identities coexist in one state, and if so, how?
3) What are the differences between the Catalan and the Basque struggle for autonomy and
why was their interaction with the Spanish government so different over the years?
4) Why was Barcelona the last bastion against the Nationalist take-over of the country?
5) What are the reasons for the characteristic differences between Barcelona and Madrid as
the two prominent urban centers of Spain?
Our goal is to observe how national separatism and Civil War look and feel like.
Barcelona’s present and past, still alive and breathing in many parts of the old city,
will help us in our task. We will spend a week in Barcelona, visiting significant locations
to the Catalan culture, arts and politics and to specific arenas where the last battles of the
Civil War occurred. The course is composed of lectures and talks on-the-ground in
Barcelona while we are surrounded by the actual sights, sounds, smells and people we
study.
Readings:
The Spanish Civil War- Hugh Thomas (Penguin Books, 2003).
Homage to Catalonia- George Orwell (Harvest Books, 1980).
Catalonia: Nation Building Without a State- Kenneth McRoberts (Oxford, 2001).
Any guidance book on the city of Barcelona you can get your hands on.
Course Plan:
Tuesday, July 1- Getting Ready for Barcelona: Nationalism and Civil war (lecture, discussion
and a film: Ken Lauch’s 2005 Land and Freedom).
Tuesday, July 8- Departure to Barcelona.
July 8-July 15- The Barcelona Experience
Wednesday, July 16- Arrival at Newark airport.
Tuesday, July 22- Debrief and conclusions.
Grading:
There is a final paper to write about the central themes of the trip and your personal
experience from the visit. It is due August 10, so there is plenty of time to finish it.