Paper short abstract:

The ethnic boundary between Catalan and Castilian speakers has been strengthened not only as a result of the political conflict but also by the strategy used by the pro-independence movement to attract working-class Castilian speakers, as shown by the analysis of the public discourse of Súmate

Paper long abstract:

The independence process that has emerged in Catalonia since 2012 has challenged the catalanist consensus about ethnic indistinction, first of all because until now the political conflict has been built upon an ethnic basis that is difficult to ignore, but also -less obviously- because the strategy of the independence movement concerning working-class Castilian speakers implied an ethnic recognition with few precedents in Catalan politics. I examine the performance of Súmate, an association promoted by the independence movement to approach working-class Castilian speakers and which, in its particular way, has attempted to legitimate independence by appealing to people's migratory origin. The analysis is based on Súmate's 'public discourse', its messages and the performance it has displayed in its public events, be they rallies in working-class neighbourhoods, interviews with journalists in the media or the opinions of other actors arising in social media and other media. The analysis shows that the two dimensions of an ethnic boundary, both categorical and behavioral (Wimmer 2013), are strengthened not only as a result of the political conflict but also by the strategy used by the pro-independence movement to attract working-class Castilian speakers.