The Governance of Cultural Diversities in Spain Linguistic, Religious and Artistic Diversity in Two Autonomous Spanish Communities

Abstract

This chapter examines how the Spanish state and two autonomous communities (the Basque Autonomous Community and Galicia) have addressed linguistic, religious, and artistic diversity. The first section provides a general overview on the constitution of autonomous communities and on immigration policies. The following subsections analyze the ways in which different sources of linguistic, religious and artistic diversity have been included in and excluded from “normalization policies”, i.e. policies aiming at the recognition and support of cultural diversity, at the state and regional levels. The focus of cultural policies on territorial forms of cultural diversity and on cultural difference, as well as the focus of immigration policies on the social integration of migrants, usually disregarding their cultural rights, have reified the symbolic boundaries among cultures and social groups, preventing the development of social interaction and cultural hybridization between and among different social groups.