Far from the industrial nature that has marked it, but not managing to reach the desired goal of what we call the knowledge society, the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (CAV-EAE) still has some way to go in order to overcome the socio-economic transition that started when it was accepted that industrial decline was irreversible - in the mid-nineties. Thus states sociologist Auxkin Galarraga, who has set out guidelines in order to understand how the specific process of this transition is taking place, in a PhD thesis defended at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and entitled Unfinished processes: industry and knowledge in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (CAE-EAE).
Mr Galarraga drew a comparison with the way in which certain European regions undertake their own transition. On the one hand, he studied the Greater Manchester (U.K.) and the Dortmund metropolitan area (Germany) in depth because, as with the CAV-EAE, industry has great historic weight in both. On the other, he studied the Helsinki metropolitan region (Finland) precisely because it is an area which has committed to the knowledge society without previously having had an industrial tradition. After the comparative study, Mr Galarraga carried out a structural analysis of the specific case of the CAV-EAE and its transition. The researcher concluded that, despite agents already taking action as regards the knowledge society as a goal, it has not been possible to integrate certain sectors into it.
Less cohesiveness
Mr Galarraga explained that the CAV-EAE had undergone a mutation in its social structure since it began to distance itself from the culture of industry. Characteristics such as strong community ties, dedication, saving and a long-term perspective on things have given way to a style of life based on individualism, leisure, consumption and short-termism - with the concomitant uncertainty and risk.
The steps taken towards the knowledge society have enabled the CAV-EAE to reach a high quality of life, and is thus at a par with other modern communities. Nevertheless, this homogenisation has, at the same time, brought with it a gradual disintegration of its political and sociocultural uniqueness: relations between Basques and their social institutions have changed. The researcher warns of the lack of references that make this new society cohesive. The elements that carried out this function no longer have relevance, and thus individualism and the deterioration in social capital have risen.
Government control and few opportunities
In fact, the CAV-EAE is suffering a number of socio-structural limitations that have to be resolved in order to achieve a fully operational knowledge society. One of the problems referred to in the thesis is the excessive control by government bodies. Basque government bodies have enjoyed great powers in planning the restructuring over the past three decades, and have been the main mechanism for developing new sectors. However, this control over various players and sectors prevents evaluating their real efficiency. Mr Galarraga explains that over-protection puts a brake on innovative and creative capacity on which knowledge societies are based.
In any case, it is on the limitations in accessing the system of opportunities that Mr Galarraga focuses. Only one third of the active population is able to truly participate in the development of the knowledge economy, given the great gap between supply and demand. The population has adapted to new circumstances and offers better qualifications, but the demand for knowledge and work in quality jobs by companies has not increased by the same proportion.
The researcher warns of the concentration of wealth and a consequent disparity: one third of the population suffering social exclusion. Moreover, this phenomenon is concentrated in a number of neighbourhoods and urban nuclei in concrete. In many cases, they are zones that have especially suffered from the disappearance of the industrial society and in which, the arrival of the knowledge society has not materialised. In conclusion, Mr Galarraga points out that, in order to complete the process of transition, new opportunities have to reach all members of the public.
About the author
Auxkin Galarraga Ezponda (Hernani, 1980) is a graduate in Sociology. He undertook his thesis under the direction of Ander Gurrutxaga Abad, professor of Sociology at the UPV/EHU, and presented it at the Department of Sociology II of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communications of this university. During the research, he stayed at the University of California-San Diego, studying with doctor in Sociology Carlos Waisman. Currently, Mr Galarraga is assistant lecturer at the Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communications at the UPV/EHU, and tutor in the UNED Spanish National Distance Education University. He also participates in Innolab Berrilab, the laboratory for social innovation of the UPV/EHU.