Crispaciones hispánicas (Reflexiones en torno a la terapia antinacionalista de Aurelio Arteta)

Abstract

This is a reply to the criticisms made by Aurelio Arteta in his article «Un nacionalista en apuros» to my essay «Manifiesto nacionalista», both published in this same journal. I answer in detail to the objections laid out by Arteta and I identify this author’s position as a kind of «counter-nationalism» (in the sense defined in my essay): Arteta has to acknowledge the empirical reality of nations (as entities different from States) and, consequently, his rejection of nationalism may only be founded on his rejection of the positive value of cultural diversity (which includes national diversity). Against Arteta, I argue that cultural pluralism, and in particular nationalism is not incompatible with a democratic spirit, nor does it imply any sort of relativism. In the final part of my article I make some brief remarks on the roots of nationalism within the Spanish State.