Citizenship in the Context of Contested Nationalism: Insights From Basque Social Movements

ABSTRACT This paper contributes to knowledge about social movements' visions of citizenship. The aim is twofold: on the one hand, to offer an analysis of how social movements understand the subjective and objective dimensions of citizenship. On the other, to explore how a context of national conflict shapes activists' perspectives on this concept. To this end, it presents a case study focused on the Basque Country, a territory in which sub‐state nationalism is a central feature of the social and political landscape. The paper is based on a qualitative analysis of the discourses of a number of Basque political activists engaged in campaigning around the issues of feminism, environmentalism, anti‐racism and migrant rights, and the movement for the revitalisation of the Basque language. The main conclusion is that the national question adds an additional layer of complexity to the perspectives on citizenship articulated by social movements, especially in relation to language and national identities.