National Minority Rights in Europe

Abstract

Separatism is a highly topical and controversial legal and political issue. This book reviews the European inter-governmental approach in international law and politics through analysis of issues related to the moral recognition and ethical acceptance of national minorities. Examining issues of sub-state nationalisms, group recognition, identity, and political participation, it reveals assumptions in international law and politics about state sovereignty, collective rights, loyalty, and political inclusion. Employing both theoretical analysis and practical examples, the book provides a new framework for the accommodation of national minorities in Europe that aims to address the problems which have emerged from both international law and European relations since 1989. Part I examines the emerging national minority rights scheme since 1989, and explores concepts of the nature and scope of national minority rights. The book suggests that these rights have perhaps been mis-categorised and under-explored. Part II examines the discourse in the light of contemporary political theory on nationalism and multiculturalism, and the politics of identity, difference, and recognition, as well as discursive approaches to democracy. Based upon these analyses, the book develops an alternative framework for national minority accommodation based upon multiple loyalties, critical citizenship, and discursive justice. This alternative model overcomes the dichotomies of individualism-collectivism and universalism-particularism, contending that minority rights should be seen as collective political autonomy rights rather than as individual cultural human rights. Using this model, Part III examines the assumptions underlying the politics of democratisation, taking as examples the work of the Council of Europe and the politics of European Union integration. The book questions the ability of the national minority rights discourse to inform international law in its efforts to protect national minorities in an ethical manner. Instead, it contends that the complex processes of constitutionalism in the realm of European integration might provide a better way to accommodate national minorities.