Symbolic Actions, Material Conflicts: The Contemporary Evolution of the Basque Social Form of the Protest

Abstract

In this paper, I propose for the Basque case a shift in the last decades: the transition from direct and confrontational protest repertoires towards more symbolic and self-expressive modes of mobilization, in a context of typologies of conflict whose roots remain modern and material. To study this process in the Basque Country between 1980 and 2010 I use the Protest Event Analysis technique, and I propose three elements that influence differentially on the types of conflict and the repertoires of protest: the creativity of the activists; the repression of the authorities; and the aestheticization of social practices in late capitalism. These three elements cause a more rapid and intense process of symbolization and dematerialization on the protest actions than on the conflicts they arise from.