There are at least two ways to approach debates about identity. One is essentialist in nature and seeks to answer the question of “what it is to be” (woman or man, young or old, parent or child, right-wing or left-wing, Spanish, French, Italian, or Catalan...). And on a strictly individual level, it asks “who am I”. The other proposes a relational approach that we can summarize in questions such as “to whom or to what one belongs” or “for whom and with whom one is” something.

A few days ago, the 53rd Feria de Abril de Catalunya, organized by FECAC (Federació d'Entitats Culturals Andaluses en Catalunya), was inaugurated. And following this celebration, Catalan political scientist Arantxa Tirado was the subject of an online diatribe for having said that she had seen the “real Catalonia” there. She herself clarified the interpretations of her comment, and since I don't know the extent of the dialectical turmoil, I won't go down that path. I only cite it to do justice to the origin of the idea of writing the lines that follow.

In case anyone had any doubts, Trump has just made his identity as a tough, unscrupulous sheriff clear and transparent. Everything for my people, if necessary humiliating the weakest of Europeans. This is his refuted identity. This is what excites the millions of Americans who voted for him. Without compassion for those who do not do what he wants. A recipe that is spreading like wildfire. The diplomacy of threat.