Los límites de la nacionalización del campesinado: esfera pública e identidad local en Mallorca durante el siglo XX

This article describes the deficiencies in peasant identification with the nation-state throughout the 20th century. Special emphasis is given to lack of integration within the national public sphere, where political debate has historically been channelled. It also demonstrates the persistence and viability of open debate in local public spheres within the municipal institutional framework, based on knowledge-construction devices related to oral tradition within a culture. The voice of subaltern peasants is heard through textual and contextual analysis of different legends, songs and rituals in Artà (Mallorca); an analysis that also attempts to explain subjective perceptions of central government policies applied in their own territory. Changes in popular perceptions of the nation-state do not align chronologically with changes in political regimes, to which local peasantry expressed a high degree of indifference. The transition from reactive to more open and proactive attitudes towards public administration institutions occurs in the 1950s. This does not correspond to any progress in democratic rights under the Franco regime but rather to increased literacy and the expansion of public services. During this period, nationalization of the peasantry was limited by subaltern experiences of centralist application of national policies, which became a major factor in the maintenance of the local public sphere.