Special Episode 1 with James Stout and Maria Carreras

Events in Catalonia over the past several weeks have focused international attention on the region, but few media outlets have considered the historical context in which these events take place.  In the first special edition of the podcast, historians of Catalonia James Stout and Maria Carreras discuss the origins of the Catalan nationalism in the late nineteenth century and trace evolution of the Catalanist movement over the course of the twentieth.  They also also draw on their own historical research to provide unique insights on the current situation in Catalonia.

Music: “La sardana de la pau” by La cobla de la bisbal.  Source: archive.org.

The Episode

The Guests

James Stout

James Stout is adjunct professor of history at San Diego Mesa college. His research focuses on sport and Catalan identity in the Second Republic. He’s currently working on his first book, which will investigate Catalonia’s 1936 popular Olympics in the context of anti fascism and Catalan national identity.

Maria Carreras

Maria is a PhD candidate at UC San Diego. Her work looks at the way in which non-state elites in the regions of Andalusia and Catalonia used civil society, particularly recreational activities, as a means of rearing citizens. More specifically, she examines at the way in which state and non-state elites targeted children in order to carry out their respective agendas. Her research interests include the history of childhood, sports, recreational activities, and nationalism.

Suggested Readings

• Arévalo, Sergio, Arnau Gonzàlez i Vilalta, Nicolau Guanyabéns, and Enric Ucelay-Da Cal, eds. Crisis i Canvis de Règim: A Espanya i a Catalunya (1898-2015). Barcelona, Editorial Base, 2015.
• Burns, Jimmy.  Barca: A People’s Passion.  Bloomsbury, 2000.
• Canal, Jordi.  Historia mínima de Cataluña.  Madrid: Turner, 2015.
• Castro, Liz.  What’s Up with Catalonia.  Ashfield: Catalonia Press, 2013.
• Duran, Lluis. Patria i Escola: L’Associacio Protectora de L’Ensenyança Catalana. Catarroja: Editorial Afers, 2003.
• Dowling, Andrew. Catalonia Since the Spanish Civil War: Reconstructing the Nation. Eastbourne: Sussex University Press, 2014.
• Ealham, Chris. Class, Culture and Conflict in Barcelona, 1898-1937. London: Routledge, 2005.
• Hargreaves, John.  Freedom for Catalonia?: Catalan Nationalism, Spanish Identity and the Barcelona Olympic Games.  Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• Marfany Garcia.  Joan Lluis. La Cultura del Catalanisme. Barcelona: Empuries, 1995.
• Mar-Molinero, Clare and Angel Smith. Nationalism and the Nation in the Iberian Peninsula: Competing and Conflicting Identities. Oxford: Berg, 1996.
• Ucelay-Da Cal, Enric. El imperialismo catalán: Prat de la Riba, Cambó, D’Ors y la conquista moral de España. Barcelona: Edhasa, 2003.
• Vilar, Pierre. Breve Historia de Cataluña. Bellatera: Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, 2011.
• Woolard, Kathryn. Double Talk Bilingualism and the Politics of Ethnicity in Catalonia. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989.