Political Extremism and Separatism: Brief Review and Analysis of Studies

Nikolay P Medvedev,Randah Madingue,Hafizullah Jawad,Nguyen Thi Hoang Oanh,Dmitry E Slizovskiy

doi:10.5539/jpl.v13n2p144

Abstract

The article presents a brief review of the studies of political extremism and separatism and the processes associated with them published in Russian and English over the past 10 years. In the center of the analysis is an attempt to describe the specifics and features of the dominant centers for the formation of a new academic and propaganda language that creates the content of ideas about the modern stage of separatism. The results of the study show that the current stage of the global world order and thinking form a different scale and priorities of the reasons and motives for the separatism use. The structure and significance of separatism factors and ideas about it change, but the content of power and politics and the dominant groups of influence, do not change. The separatism tension points have shifted from the traditional causes and motives for the growth of separatist sentiment to a combination of crude and veiled support for separatism and the use of its potential on a global scale by the governments of the leading countries. The process of reformatting the consciousness and politics of the supporters of separatism, who have created their own nation-states, has gained momentum.

Highlights

The relevance of separatism in all its manifestations is natural, if only because in critical time there are few mechanisms other than separatism, which could compete for the mobilization of society on the basis of migration processes, ethnic, religious and cultural identities
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez would not have had to declare with anger in November 2019 after an outbreak of an ongoing Catalan separatism: “No state would ever allow the unilateral secession of a territory that is part of its constitutional order
Separatism and its extremist manifestations in various forms have given rise to whole scientific schools, whose representatives, scientists, specialists and experts in various fields of knowledge study and analyze this phenomenon. They look for its distinctive features of global, continental, regional and country scale. Where do these searches lead, and whether it is possible to find at least the main directions of thought and the process of separatism? Here is a sample of one of the directions followed by Katharine Boyle from the Cornell University and Pierre Englebert from Pomona College: “Unlike the currently popular economic model of civil wars, we find that political factors overshadow other approaches

Summary

Focus of Relevance

The relevance of separatism in all its manifestations is natural, if only because in critical time there are few mechanisms other than separatism, which could compete for the mobilization of society on the basis of migration processes, ethnic, religious and cultural identities. All those who like President Macron, Prime Minister of Spain Sanchez or President of Ukraine Zelensky are eager to expose the unsightly situation in the understanding of what is happening, should probably remind others that the era of change, hints and half-hints, including on the role and importance of extremism and separatism and its apologists, will last on a global scale for years and decades, but not centuries or more During this time, the scientific community and politicians can create a new political culture, a new language of dialogue and communication, in which extremism and separatism will be a consolation and satisfaction of the urgent needs of those who today rely on separatism. In both aspects there can be illusions and ambiguity, a mixture of popularity and populism

The Popularity and Populism of Separatism

New Political and Polemical Atmosphere for Understanding Separatism

Findings

Discussion