SOCIAL RESPONSES TO POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY - PEACE MOVEMENTS AND THEIR AUDIENCE

In the Basque country of Spain, a violent political conflict has conti nued from the time of the France dictatorship. A terrorist group direc ts indiscriminate violence against the population. Over the past 10 ye ars, a grassroots reaction against violence has built a pacifist prote st. Groups of citizens have organized collective action. This article studies the strategies of these pacifist groups to gain support from B asque society. It shows how they gain an audience's attention in diffe rent sectors of the audience that tend to identify with each group. Th rough routine street mobilization and many other forms of social press ure, they have markedly changed the social landscape, constructing a n ew citizen consensus. Their activities affect political leaders, Spani sh and Basque governments, and social conditions, seriously diminishin g the terrorist group's influence.