Social mobilization for catalan language and education in the Balearic Islands

Abstract

The aim of this article is to show why a conflict arisingspecificallyover a multilingual educational pattern can involve the whole Balearic society and havean impact outside the islands, not only in the mass media, but also among groups related to education. Futhermore, the broad social consensus with reference to educational conflict in the Balearic Islands caused by the measurestaken by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Universities, the size and continuity of the social protests and requests are an unusual event in this country, where demostrations/protests do not generally tend to be large. The coherence of the social groups implicated contrasts with the irrational and overly aggressive reactions of politicians responsible for Education in the Balearics. This contrast could be one factor which explains the peculiarity of the development of the conflict.