ETA Terrorist Campaign ─ From Violence to Politics, 1968?015

This book is an analysis of the rise and decline of the Basque terrorist groupEuzkadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom). ETA declared a unilateral ceasefire in November 2011, bringing to a close a campaign of political violence that started in the late 1960s. Contrary to the copious literature on the IRA and Irish nationalism, however, much less has been published on the five decades of terrorism that resulted in 1,000 violent deaths.

The main argument of the book is that the defeat of ETA must be contextualised within the strategic evolution of Basque nationalism and the declining resonance of the radical message. By the beginning of the 21st century, the overwhelming majority of secession supporters agree that an independent Basque homeland will be realized through ‘ballots’, not ‘bullets’.

The aim of this book is to provide an inter-disciplinary overview of radical Basque nationalism that pays special attention to the drivers for ETA’s decline, defeat and disbandment. The volume provides an unusual equilibrium between historians, political scientists and sociologists and the editors are confident that the resulting work will be of interest to scholars working across the humanities and the social sciences.

Diego Muro is Assistant Professor in Comparative Politics at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).

Rafael Leonisio is Postdoctoral researcher at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Spain.

Fernando Molina is a (tenured) Research Fellow in Contemporary History at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU).