Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: José Miguel Rojo Martínez
Title:  LA IDENTIDAD REGIONAL EN LA COMUNIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE LA REGIÓN DE MURCIA: UN ANÁLISIS ESTADÍSTICO SOBRE SU EXTENSIÓN
Abstract: Resumen:El presente trabajo explora, a partir de datos de opinión pública procedentes de diferentes barómetros del CIS y del CEMOP, la situación de la identidad regional en la Comunidad de Murcia, toda vez que existe cierto consenso en la idea de que esta zona cuenta con una identidad propia débil o difusa. Como paso previo para posteriores análisis explicativos que den cuenta de la particular configuración identitaria murciana, debemos asentar unas bases cuantitativas (a nivel descriptivo mediante la construcción de series longitudinales, análisis bivariados y escalas) sobre la cuestión, resultando que, en comparación con otras regiones, no existe una identidad regional tan débil como se presupone, si bien se observa una distribución interna desigual de la misma según comarca, edad y preferencias políticas.  Abstract:Debates about the influence of collective identities in the political sphere are leadingnew lines of research at a global moment of withdrawal from the local. In this context,and especially because of the importance that territorial, national or regional, identities arehaving in Spain, to such an extent that we could claim to live a regionalist moment, thisresearch aims to investigate the situation of regional identity in Murcia, with a statisticalperspective, using survey data from different studies of the CIS (Center for SociologicalResearch) and CEMOP (Center for Murcian Studies of Public Opinion). First, from acomparative perspective with the rest of the country’s regions and second, consideringsome relevant variables of the phenomenon. For instance, the pride of belonging andthe identification with different territorial areas. Indicators such as pride of belongingor regional identification are subjected to bivariate analysis to explore their distributionamong different population groups. The possible differential distribution of the levels ofregional identity according to age, vote or district of the interviewee can inform about theprocesses of significance that underlie regional identity in Murcia.To be able to analyze these questions, the paper begins with an exhaustive theoreticalreview on the concept of regional identity, taking as a point of reference the constructivistparadigm of identity. In this regard, it is essential to include the postulates of the SocialIdentity Theory (SIT) to understand how social or collective identities generate affectivebonds between people and groups, promote images abroad, develop feelings of belongingand require a certain awareness of participation in a particular reality that assigns attributes.Before moving on to the empirical headings, we compile in a state of art some of the fewprevious works on regional identity in Murcia. These studies show the consensus that hasexisted since the study by Jiménez Blanco et al. (1977) in pointing to Murcia as one ofthe areas of the country with less regional awareness in the political dimension and, at thesame time, with higher levels of Spanish identity. To what extent is this image about theRegion of Murcia true?The explanations for this situation have only been previously provided by Montesdel Castillo et al. (1996). They contribute two major hypotheses: the historical hypothesis(there was no autonomist sentiment in the seventies and eighties and, besides, the Regionof Murcia does not coincide with a natural community) and the hypothesis of strong localidentities that would be preventing the determination of a common regional space. Thehypothesis of local identities is directly included in our research through bivariate analyzes,paying special attention to the behavior that the Cartagena-Mar Menor district may describe.Until now, the scant existing bibliography has raised the lack of political expressionof Murcian collective identity as the most significant feature of its existence. In reality, theautonomy aspiration has been scarce in the Region of Murcia. Both, it is difficult to findcultural ethnic traits that facilitate the construction of one’s own identity. In this sense, theonly condition of possibility to institute a Murcian differential fact is as of the grievance, butthat implies an activation of the regional consciousness from the political discourse. Thisstrategy would have already been launched in the region mainly through the water conflict. After providing a theoretical framework on regional identity, we raised a debate onthe methodologies for measuring the phenomenon. This debate forces us to review thebroad limitations of the Linz-Moreno Scale and the need for this measure to be completedby other variables and also with other more qualitative approaches that, however, willremain for future research on this topic since, in a first approach, attention should befocused on a descriptive and exploratory dimension.The available data statistic from recent years has revealed that within the Linz-MorenoScale, in reality, the Region of Murcia does not have a more accentuated Spanish identitythan other areas of the country or, in other words, the identification with the regional levelof Murcian citizens is not substantively lower than that the citizens of Aragon, Cantabria orValencia have, areas where a differential fact has been successfully established, includingthe birth of regionalist parties with great force. The Region of Murcia appears in thesedata as a territory with a strong dual identity.Nevertheless, by deepening the investigation beyond the Linz-Moreno Scale, weobserve that identification with the Region of Murcia is clearly lower than identificationwith Spain and also, to a lesser extent, with the locality in which one resides. Furthermore,the identification with the Region of Murcia is not homogeneously distributed andperhaps this finding allows us to understand the historical limitations for the political anddiscursive activation of a differential regional identity. For example, those under 30 yearsof age are those who least identify with the Region of Murcia, compared to those over65 who participate more intensely in this feeling of belonging. This data is curious sincethe youngest have already been born in a Region of Murcia with its own institutions anda certain autonomist narrative.Considering the memory of the vote, depending on the party that was voted for, thelevels of regional identification change: the voters of the PP are the ones who feel moreidentified with the Region of Murcia. 89.48% of the voters of the current ruling conservativeparty feel very or quite identified, compared to 64.81% of those who voted for the partylocated just on the opposite ideological side, Podemos. We could therefore indicate thatthose least identified with the Region of Murcia are also those who feel further away fromthe regional government and that, in part, shows that the Murcian identity constructionhas been carried out from a specific political idea during the last two decades.Another of the most interesting findings is that the identification with the Region ofMurcia obtains different levels depending on the district. While the district of the capitalis the one that obtains the most relevant high identification data, Cartagena and the Altiplanodescribe significantly lower levels of identification. These uneven data, which arealso produced when we analyse the variable “pride of belonging”, turn the hypothesisof strong exclusionary local identities into one of the main explanations for the weakpolitical articulation of Murcian regional identity. On the subject of local identities, it isnecessary to continue to deepen future studies, especially with regard to Cartagena, acity where a center/periphery cleavage is growing that has already had important politicalconsequences. In short, regional identity in the Murcian case has significant internal cohesionproblems that could explain its lack of political activation in the form of collective consciousness.But, in any case, we must disprove the myth that the Region of Murcia hasan especially accentuated Spanish feeling among its citizens, although it may have grownin recent years, possibly in response to certain political events.  
Classification-JEL: R1
Keywords: Identidad Colectiva, Identidad Regional, Conciencia Regional, Región de Murcia., Collective Identity, Regional Identity, Regional Conscience
Pages: 195-222
Volume: 3
Year: 2023
File-URL: http://www.revistaestudiosregionales.com/documentos/articulos/pdf-articulo-2661.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:rer:articu:v:3:y:2023:p:195-222