"Thanks to new technologies, magical things like the 'Catalan Way' can occur"

It is the same, but articulated in such a radically different way that the rules are not quite the same. That said, there are examples throughout history of movements in which social networks have played a role, since interpersonal networks must clearly be understood as channels for the flow and spread of information. Ultimately, the raw materials are the same: people interacting with people. We now use the term 'social network' synonymously with Twitter or Facebook, but social networks existed long before this, as human beings live in societies that interact through networks. So they have always existed, it is just that they have become more tangible. Twelve years ago, when I started work on my thesis, it was very hard to understand exactly what social networks were, what this idea of six degrees of separation was about. Now, though, we understand the human tendency to think in networks, as these new digital tools bombard us with constant information, when years ago we would have had to meet for a coffee and a chat to find out how someone's life was going. The real change is the speed with which information can circulate and the scale on which this occurs, and we can now respond faster than even, thanks to new technologies. Exactly. But there has always been a point at which the whole process can be interrupted, and the new tools are affected by the same problem. Skype makes no sense if you are the only person that has it - there need to be other users too, a critical mass of people in a particular space at a particular moment. However, the technical complexity of networks makes it difficult to predict whether a political movement or new technology will become successful or not. It is hard to envisage the paths a movement will take and the way it will spread in the digital sphere. We can look at it using the metaphor of a spark in a forest. The spark is always the same, but its effect isn't the same in a forest where it has rained as in a forest where it hasn't rained for weeks. I'm convinced that it was the economic conditions that laid the foundations for this rise in mobilization, but we need to maintain perspective. It's very easy to fall into the trap of saying that the protests which began in 2011 with the Arab Spring were a sort of contagion, as it would seem that the approach simply spread from one country to the next. However, the truth is that the local conditions were very different in each case. Yes, but then in 2012 there were protests to mark the first anniversary of the movements and they were not as successful as the previous year, even though conditions had in fact become even worse. Perhaps this was due to political fatigue, perhaps the movement had simply run out of steam, because political engagement really wears you down. Digital networks certainly make it easier to take the decision to join a political movement, because they tell us how many people this movement has already mobilized. They also make it easier for the public to evaluate how successful a movement is likely to be, which is important given how easy it is to stay at home and watch protests on the television, without having to worry about the consequences. When we start to weigh up whether a cause is worth getting involved in, our decision is related to the number of other people making the effort, and there is a point when we realise that so many people are getting involved that we feel compelled to join them. So the effect is much more than simply spreading awareness. Yes, it's about social influence. And since we are constantly exposed to what the people around us are doing, these processes of contagion are more rapid and can cause even the most apolitical person to suddenly want to be out on the streets with the rest of a movement. Maybe this person doesn't actually believe in the cause and is simply reluctant to be the only one who isn't out protesting.... It was very exciting. It's another good example of the new social conditions generated by new technologies. Someone created the digital infrastructure to make the whole possible, but behind it was a vast virtual organization. Years ago this would have required centralized committees and neighbourhood associations, which would pass the information up to the next level in the hierarchy, and this would have meant spending far more money. The 'Catalan Way' illustrated how new technologies enable us to centralize information without having to fund a centralized organisation that holds the movement together. So thanks to new technologies, magical things like the 'Catalan Way' can occur. The important thing here is the presence of a long-standing civic network, generating what sociologists would call 'social capital'. The network of collective and associative bodies that school us in democracy and inculcate civic values. I always stress that although Facebook and Twitter are logistically important and channel processes that enable things to happen, they cannot be compared to the 'quality' of the traditional social network, which has the weight of a civic tradition behind it. Indeed there are studies that associate the richness and density of digital networks with the level of mobilization of the societies they reflect. That's right, although it is also true that in countries without basic political freedoms, where these 'quality' social networks are outlawed, digital networks go some way to filling the void. If you are not free to associate physically you can associate digitally, which opens a forum for democratic participation that did not previously exist, albeit one which can lead to persecution or, in countries such as China or Turkey, even see you put in prison. So the role of these digital networks, which have become so fashionable, changes according to the political context. I would like to be able to say that Catalonia is special and that what happens here is unique, but I have a degree of professional bias, and with the figures in front of me - though I'm not a specialist in the subject - I have to say that I don't think there is evidence to support the notion that Catalonia is the scene of more political or social activism than anywhere else. Without a specific study of the situation, there are no arguments to suggest that what we have seen here is a special phenomenon, although I would say that I have never witnessed another movement quite like the 'Catalan Way'. You're absolutely right. And if we compare Scotland and Catalonia, the difference we observe is that David Cameron appears in a photograph shaking hands with Alex Salmond. In the UK the referendum is legitimate and has a date. That's the major difference, and the lack of such an agreement here in Catalonia has had a rebound effect in society, where people want their demands to be heard. I would love to be able to carry out an experiment to see what would happen in Scotland without Cameron's agreement to the referendum. Would they mobilise in the same way as the Catalans? Would we see a 'Scottish Way'?