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Throughout the colonial period the Spanish crown made numerous unsuccessful attempts to conquer Araucanía, Chile’s southern borderlands region. Contested Nation argues that with Chilean independence, Araucanía—because of its status as a separate nation-state—became essential to the territorial integrity of the new Chilean Republic. This book studies how Araucanía’s indigenous inhabitants, the Mapuche, played a central role in the new Chilean state’s pursuit of an expansionist policy that simultaneously exalted indigenous bravery while relegating the Mapuche to second-class citizenship. It also examines other subaltern groups, particularly bandits, who challenged the nation-state’s monopoly on force and were thus regarded as criminals and enemies unfit for citizenship in Chilean society. Pilar M. Herr’s work advances our understanding of early state formation in Chile by viewing this process through the lens of Chilean-Mapuche relations. She provides a thorough historical context and suggests that Araucanía was central to the process of post-independence nation building and territorial expansion in Chile.

Contested Nation argues that with Chilean independence, Araucanía--because of its status as a separate nation-state--became essential to the territorial integrity of the new Chilean Republic.

Pilar Ortuño Anaya breaks new ground in the study of the international dimensions of the Spanish transition to democracy. She argues that specific individuals and organizations made a significant contribution to the democratization process. Dr Ortuño Anaya establishes for the first time the role played by European socialist and trade union organizations, in particular the German Social Democratic Party and its affiliated unions, the Labour movements in the United Kingdom, and the French Socialists.

Generations of Basques in New York have vibrantly exercised their culture, language, values, and traditions, transmitting to their children a robust sense of ethnic identity. In today's world of globalization it is often assumed that particular communities are disappearing as a consequence of the factors of homogenization. However, the Basques have proved this false. Depicting Basque mutual aid societies, language courses, musical and dance troupes, cuisine classes, community activities, sport, political involvement, and ties to homeland institutions are just a few of the ingredients which mix to compose the chapters of this work. Readers will learn about the history and reasons why Basques left the Pyrenees of northern Spain and southern France from the personal experiences of political and economic exiles' oral histories. Original archival research allows us to discover the features of the early 1900s Centro Vasco-Americano, the Basque Government-in-exile Delegation in New York, and the development of Basque organizations. "Basqueness" is being redefined in this transnational cosmopolitan community, and with the pioneer spirit of their ancestors, latter generation Basques are nurturing and promoting Basque culture and identity to the world.

An investigation into the specifics of Basque migrations, cultural representations, diasporic politics, and ethnonationalism, using theories from sociology, political science, history, and anthropology. Distributed for the Center for Basque Studies.