Diving into the contentiousness of the post-ETA-years : drawing a mixed-method approximation to the state of the parliamentary talks addressing the ETA-years

Abstract

It has been over four years since the absolute end of the ETA-years as they were definitely closed with ETA’s disbandment in May 2018. This was a period of special political but also human rights-related significance for Spain and, specially, the Basque Country, as mainly ETA, but other non-State actors and the State as well, committed significative human rights violations. Therefore, now, addressing the ETA-years comes as a mandatory prescription in order to redress victims of human rights violations as well as to advance in societal-democratic goals. But, while this general consideration is widely held, its actual configuration and execution is deeply contentious. This work tries to tackle this issue precisely through its complexity and contentiousness: looking specifically at the ‘state of parliamentary talks (in the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Basque Parliament and Parliament of Navarre) addressing the ETA-years during these four post-ETA-years. And it does so employing a comprehensiveness-seeking mixed-method content analysis. Transitional Justice and the meta-conflict are taken as underlaying instrumental (but thoroughly justified and detailed) theoretical basis upon which to build a richer rationale and interpretation for the analysis. A set of variables covering frames/notions for the ETA-years, victims and prisoners, victory-defeat elements, friends-enemies and ‘action-guiding principles’, and, of categories of ‘parliament’, ‘political forces’ and ‘theme’ complete the framework for a content analysis that draws first quantitative (relative frequency) results which complemented by ad hoc qualitative takes.