Francesca Ferré

The political issue of Catalan independence requires us to think about it as Europeans. Since the end of the Second World War, we have created a space for democracy in Europe. This is why the question of Catalonia concerns us. This is not an internal political conflict within the Spanish state – the conflict between Catalonia and Spain is our responsibility. Responsibility means the response we make to the political demands of our world through our understanding, as giving a response is an existential way of being specific to humans. Attempting to "understand the world", a task of reflection called for by Hannah Arendt, is to be concerned about the shared world. Human rights are at stake. We will ask ourselves whether the right to self-determination can be applied to Catalans. Therefore, it is the fundamental political concepts of people, sovereignty, nation and independence on which this right is based that need to be clarified. Our phenomenological analysis will consist of untangling the knots, removing prejudices, and dismantling ideological constructions to be able to judge freely.

Pourquoi les catalans revendiquent-ils l'indépendance de la Catalogne ? Sont-ils un peuple, une nation ? Une nation en Europe peut-elle encore établir son État ? L'auteure propose une analyse en pensant à neuf les concepts politiques pour entendre ce qui est en jeu en ce moment décisif de l'histoire européenne. Il devient alors possible de comprendre la raison pour laquelle le droit à l'autodétermination s'applique à leur cas. Il importe de distinguer nation et nationalisme. Ces Discours sont trois essais de phénoménologie politique qui s'adressent aux catalans et aux européens. Ouvrir les possibles – telle est l'affaire de la philosophie.