Quest For Sovereignty Research Articles

The Merry affair: etiquette, politics, and diplomacy in the early republic

ABSTRACT On 2 December 1803, President Thomas Jefferson threw a dinner party at the White House. In violation of diplomatic etiquette, when dinner was called Jefferson offered his hand to Dolley Madison, the wife of the Secretary of State, rather than to Elizabeth Merry, the wife of the newly appointed British minister. The incident sparked a social war. In response to the ensuing controversy, Jefferson hurriedly wrote out his Canons of Etiquette, describing a radical, new form of American etiquette that marked an important step forward in the United States’ quest for sovereignty and equality with the nations of Europe.

A Prolonged Abrogation? The Capitulations, the 1917 Law of Family Rights, and the Ottoman Quest for Sovereignty during World War 1

AbstractThe 1917 promulgation of a new Ottoman family law is recognized as a landmark moment in the history of Islamic law by scholars of women and gender in the Middle East. Yet the significance of the 1917 law in the struggle over religious jurisdiction, political power, and Ottoman sovereignty has been overlooked in the scholarship on both Ottoman legal reform and World War 1. Drawing on Ottoman Turkish, German, French, and English sources linking internal interpretations of the law and external reactions to its passage, we reinterpret adoption of the family law as a key moment in the geopolitics of World War 1. We demonstrate that passage of the law was a critical turning point in the wartime process of abrogating the capitulations and eliminating the last vestiges of legal extraterritoriality in the Ottoman Empire. The law is situated in its wartime political context and the geopolitical milieu of larger Europe to demonstrate that, although short-lived, the 1917 family law was a centerpiece of the wartime struggle to define extraterritorial rights of the Ottoman Empire, the Great Powers, and their protégés within the empire.

Indigenizing the Cold War in Malaysia and Singapore: Interethnic Decolonization, Developmental Syntheses and the Quest for Sovereignty

While local Marxist and neo-Marxist parties attempted to synchronize their revolutionary struggles with the centers of world communism during the period 1945–1991, political currents on the ground in Malaysia and Singapore were pushing for the establishment of postcolonial authority, social peace, and economic prosperity. The Cold War struggle between 'communism' and 'democratic capitalism' was highly refracted, even distorted, on the ground in these two Southeast Asian countries. This refraction was largely manifested in the struggles by nationalists of all ideological stripes to achieve a multiracial society through interethnic decolonization under the banner of waging 'class warfare' against colonial authority. For many anti-colonial political parties, siding with or joining leftist movements was a façade for revolutionary agendas that were not necessarily Marxist-Leninist in orientation. Secondly, the biographies and civil society narratives of contending political figures of the time suggest that they were less inclined to define their thinking about development along Cold War ideological orthodoxy than to defy the latter to make things work for prosperity. Finally, the successor elites who took the place of the colonial rulers were consistently obsessed with burnishing sovereignty in spite of the international Cold War. This can be seen in their slippery practice of nonalignment in foreign policy. The Malaysian and Singaporean cases strongly present the thesis of indigenization of the Cold War for local purposes.

Humanitarian Aid in the “Bulwark Against Bolshevism”: The American Relief Administration and the Quest for Sovereignty in Post-World War I Romania

Humanitarian Aid in the “Bulwark Against Bolshevism”: The American Relief Administration and the Quest for Sovereignty in Post-World War I Romania

Marists, Marian Devotion, and the Quest for Sovereignty in Bougainville

Abstract Christianity and politics seem to be intrinsically linked. In Central Bougainville, which is part of the autonomous region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Catholic faith introduced by Marist missionaries has been instrumental in building a national Bougainville identity and sustaining the political struggle for sovereignty. Although the first missionaries were often cautious not to disrupt socio-political organisations, Marists have been advocating both local and Marist political interests and views in the continuously shifting religious, and socio-economical political context of colonial and “post”-colonial Bougainville. This article follows the early Catholic missionaries to Bougainville, elucidating dialectics, tensions and politics of conversion. Moreover, it shows how devotion to Mary became entangled with a particular representation of Bougainville land as Holy, and the engendering of an ethnic-religious nationalism in the context of a ten-year-long devastating conflict and struggle for sovereignty.

“A shift in the playing field”: Indigenous sovereignty and the philosophy of Jacques Ranciѐre

This article considers Indigenous people as political actors in their quest for sovereignty within the liberal democracies of Canada, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the USA (the CANZUS nations). I aim to show that, despite the structures of settler colonialism that both resist and then co-opt dissent, seeking sovereignty is, as political philosopher Jacques Ranciѐre outlines, an act of Indigenous politics that challenges and shifts these structures. While the fundamental colonising logic of the nation state does not change, through the Indigenous sovereign voice, a reframed understanding of democracy is revealed which in turn creates an enlarged space for Indigenous peoples.

Commemorative places, political spaces: Virginia Indians, the Jamestown Quadricentennial, and the quest for sovereignty

ABSTRACTThis essay examines the cross-cultural communication strategies deployed by a coalition of indigenous tribes in Virginia to leverage the Quadricentennial commemoration of the founding at Jamestown in support of their sovereignty campaign. The tensions between Jamestown’s mythos as the “birthplace of democracy” and the natives’ historical and contemporary lived experiences, combined with the national and international attention focused on the events, constructed the 400th anniversary “celebrations” as a compelling location for social action. The coalition employed intercultural communicative practices—particularly cross-cultural dialogue and negotiation—as means of mobilizing these tensions to renegotiate their relationship with the federal government, illustrating the intersection of intercultural communication, memory, and identity.

Colonial law in the making

From its creation to the present day, jurists and historians have perceived the Congo Free State (CFS) as a special example of political sovereignty. As a ‘colony without Metropolis’ whose territorial basis was obtained through disputed treaties made in the name of geographical and philanthropic societies with almost no legal existence, it stands out at first sight as an anomaly in nineteenth century colonial State building. Yet, the Free State’s legal existence is largely rooted in other imperial experiences, and shares multiple common features with its colonial rivals. This article intends to show how, from H.M. Stanley’s first expeditions in the mouth of the Congo River (1876) to the creation of Belgian colony (1908), international law and foreign imperial rules were used as the very matrix of the CFS’s legal existence as a sovereign State. The particular history of the CFS’s quest for sovereignty and the creation of its land legislation not only offers a unique example of colonial law making, it also provides interesting outputs on colonial legislative processes, as well as general observations on the West’s territorial expansion in the nineteenth century.

Antigone Again: Conspiracy and Curse

Bonnie Honig’s recently published book, Antigone, Interrupted, is a significant new contribution to ongoing debates in philosophy, political theory, and literary studies about the reception of Sophocles’s Antigone. This review analyzes the strengths of Honig’s readings, the theory of “agonistic humanism” that they support, and the book’s deft navigation of the relationship between interpretation and theorizing. It also queries the emphasis on Antigone’s quest for sovereignty at the cost of acknowledging her imbrication in ancestral curse and tragic frames of agency and advocates more attention to the different modes in which Antigone and those around her speak to the audience and to one another.

Some economic dimensions of the sovereignty debate in Quebec: debt, GDP, and migration

This paper shows that the quest for sovereignty in Quebec is explained by its role as the abode for a French-speaking minority in North America. It notes that there was no commonly agreed legal framework for the 1980 or 1995 referendums and that the attempt to impose one in 2000 has been rejected by Quebec. Using results from existing papers and original research, the paper shows that the quest for sovereignty can have an impact on the cost of financing the public debt of the entity doing this. It also shows that labour flows can be affected by the existence of a sovereignty movement. This GDP would be higher if the secessionist threat had not had an impact on the size of the labour force since the early 1970s.

REDD+ and the Indigenous Question: A Case Study from Ecuador

One of the main issues regarding the implementation of REDD+ in Latin America has been the growing concern that such projects may infringe upon the rights and negatively affect the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. Various indigenous and civil society organizations are ardently opposed to the initiative. Such is the case in Ecuador, where indigenous opposition to REDD+ represents a considerable obstacle in the creation of a national strategy since more than 60% of the country’s remaining forest cover is on indigenous land or under indigenous occupation. Thus one of the most critical challenges remaining for Ecuador will be the construction of a strong legal, financial, and institutional framework—one that the greater indigenous community might be willing to accept. Closer examination of this topic however, reveals just how difficult this may become. Lack of information, a recent political split between national authorities and the indigenous sector, and the dissimilar organizational capacity levels of indigenous communities make the feasibility of carrying out REDD+ projects on these lands extremely complex. However, the biggest obstacle may be ideological. Many indigenous groups view REDD+, with its possible emphasis on international markets and neoliberal mechanisms, as a continuation of the type of policies that have impeded their quest for sovereignty and self determination. As such, indigenous people are only willing to consider such projects if they clearly see preconditions in place that would safeguard their cultures, territories, and autonomy.

“The Jews Do Not Want War!”: American Jewish Communists Defend the Hitler–Stalin Pact, 1939–1941

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsHenry F. Srebrnik∗∗Henry F. Srebrnik is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Prince Edward Island (Canada). He received a BA (1966) and MA (1970) from McGill University and his PhD (1984) from the University of Birmingham (England). His books include Jerusalem on the Amur: Birobidzhan and the Canadian Jewish communist movement, 1924–1951 (2008) and London Jews and British Communism, 1935–1945 (1995). He is one of the editors and a contributor to DeFacto States: the Quest for Sovereignty (2004). He has served as Associate Editor of the Canadian Review of Studies in Nationality. ∗Henry F. Srebrnik is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Prince Edward Island (Canada). He received a BA (1966) and MA (1970) from McGill University and his PhD (1984) from the University of Birmingham (England). His books include Jerusalem on the Amur: Birobidzhan and the Canadian Jewish communist movement, 1924–1951 (2008) and London Jews and British Communism, 1935–1945 (1995). He is one of the editors and a contributor to DeFacto States: the Quest for Sovereignty (2004). He has served as Associate Editor of the Canadian Review of Studies in Nationality.

Cry sovereignty: South Africa and the UN Security Council in a hegemonic world, 2007–20081

ABSTRACT This article examines South Africa's role in the United Nations Security Council in 2007–2008. This issue is highlighted as a highpoint in post-apartheid South Africa's diplomacy, which developed from its role of peacemaking and institution building in Africa, as part of the continent's renewal. Faced with the constraints of a hegemonic world and declined global multilateralism, especially after 9/11, South Africa used its moral power to leverage its own sovereignty and that of weaker states. In doing so, it pushed hard for regionalism, devoting its presidential terms in the council in March 2007 and April 2008 to strengthening the linkages between the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) structures. However, from the outset South Africa's voting patterns in the council – from Myanmar to Zimbabwe – revealed the palpable tension between the politics of solidarity and sovereignty on the one hand, and human rights on the other. The article traces South Africa's quest for sovereignty to the struggle against apartheid in the UN and regional structures of the erstwhile Organisation of African Unity (OAU). It further examines South Africa's efforts to implement its vision of the world emerging from this legacy after 1994, culminating in the battle for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Although Pretoria failed to secure a permanent seat, its election to the council as a non-permanent member provided it with the opportunity to implement its vision. While the principled approach to UN diplomacy has expanded the space for its own sovereignty and that of Africa, it has at the same time increased tension with the world's superpower, particularly over the war on terror and Zimbabwe. Recent xenophobic attacks on African migrants in South Africa have, on the other hand, cast some dark clouds on President Thabo Mbeki's acknowledged leading advocacy for the African Renaissance project.

Republican Sentiment in the Realms of the Queen: The New Zealand Perspective

In common with other countries which continue to recognise Elizabeth II as their Queen, in New Zealand the Crown symbolises the authority of government. But the continuation of this symbolism has been questioned by various groups and individuals, who propose that New Zealand become a republic. One reason is the quest for sovereignty by some Maori - the indigenous inhabitants of the country, another the rejection of the relevance of the symbolism and substance of an inherited form of government. These arguments for a New Zealand republic, although with their own unique elements, stem from a long tradition of political thought, though not one which was markedly strong in New Zealand. It has also been argued that the gradual departure from the original Westminster model means that the abolition of the monarchy will mark the culmination of our political development. The last century has been particularly marked internationally by a process of modernisation, of abandoning post-medieval political traditions. Though criticism of monarchy as a generic form of government is by no means absent in republican literature in New Zealand, the emphasis (and much of the underlying beliefs) is on national identity. Ironically, this means modern Commonwealth republicanism has relatively little in common with traditional republicanism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The first section of this paper looks at the older, particularly nineteenth century British, republican tradition. This was based variously on democracy, utilitarianism, and expense, depending upon the circumstances of the time. The second section assesses the republican movement in Australia, and compares and contrasts it with that in New Zealand. In particular, although like classical republicanism the Australian variety depended for its intellectual base on sometimes conflicting ideologies, it has come to have nationalism as its principal motivation. The third section looks at an argument that it would be illegal to abolish the monarchy. Although in the end the continuance of a regime depends upon popular support, if it is legally entrenched this will have an effect upon its stability. In the New Zealand context it would seem to indicate that the adoption of a republic would be more conceptually problematic than it would be in Australia.