Separatist Leaders Research Articles

‘They bee Full Donatists’

This study shows how the rise of the English separatist movement in the latesixteenth century was characterized by a polemical struggle over the applicability of the epithet of ‘Donatism.’ A pejorative slur, the Donatist label was often utilized during the early-modern period against dissident movements which refused to recognize the legitimacy of the established church. It was a perfect polemical weapon, serving to connect such rogue congregations with all the dangerous implications, both theological and political, of the ancient schism. But what was ‘Donatism’ in the context of Elizabethan England? What were its characteristics and subversive doctrines? In this article, I will examine the portrait of the ancient sect as painted by both the opponents of separatism and the early separatist leaders themselves in order to assess what aspects of the Donatist label resonated with the polemical presuppositions of each side.

Collective Memory and Violence: The Use of Myths in the Chechen Separatist Ideology, 1991–1994

This paper deals with the political uses of freedom myths in the Chechen separatist ideology between 1991 and 1994. By adopting a constructionist perspective, it shows that these myths could have a pervasive role in a period of deep political crisis. It explores the way myths have been evolving over times. It particularly points out the role of collective memories of past tragic events in reshaping myths and their political significance. From that point onwards it analyses how myths have been included into political rhetoric. Chechen separatist leaders make a linear reading of Russo-Chechen relationships and put forward independence as a necessity. In so doing, the new self-proclaimed independent state represents, beyond political and economic arguments, a ‘guaranty for safety’. While the embryonic Chechen state was failing, separatist leaders borrowed from mythology to legitimize the Chechen state and raise the struggle for an independent state to the status of a right and just struggle. This paper demonstrates the strength that the narratives conveyed by myths could have in terms of constructing a common sense to past and present in a period of changes.

From Islamism to nationalism in Aceh, Indonesia

ABSTRACT. This article analyses a dramatic political transformation in Indonesia's Aceh province. In the 1950s, an Islamic rebellion (Darul Islam) aimed not to separate Aceh from Indonesia, but rather to make Indonesia an Islamic state. A successor movement from the 1970s was GAM, the Free Aceh Movement. GAM, however, was essentially secular‐nationalist in orientation, sought Aceh's complete independence and did not espouse formal Islamic goals. The transformation is explained by various factors, but the key argument concerns the relationship between Islam and nationalism. The defeat of Darul Islam had caused Aceh's Islamic leaders to focus on what they could achieve in Aceh alone, ultimately giving rise to Acehnese nationalism and the secessionist goal. However, Islam remained a point of commonality with, rather than difference from, majority‐Muslim Indonesia. The logic of nationalist identity construction and differentiation thus caused Aceh's separatist leaders, despite being personally devout, to increasingly downplay Islamic symbols and ideology.

East Timor and the Internet: Global Political Leverage in/on Indonesia

Student protestors inside the occupied national Parliament compound reporting online to the world from laptop computers epitomized the extent to which forces opposing President Suharto mobilized the internet in the dying phase of his rule. So too, under Suharto’s successors, is the Internet proving a new medium for separatist and minority ethnic groups within the archipelago seeking self-determination or international recognition for their aspirations. “The most important factor in gaining independence is communication with international powers,” claimed one Acehnese separatist leader, who added, “The internet is the only way we can achieve this.” They are staking their claim on the internet, with several sites like “Achehnese tears” providing “Information on breaches of human fights in Aceh,” complete with graphic photographs of military brutality. Moluccan groups, too, both in Indonesia and abroad, have taken to the internet to argue their position on the recent conflict there. This paper examines how one particular marginalized regional Independence movement has exploited the potential of the Internet in its struggle. East Timor provides a striking example of how a protracted Independence struggle adjusted to the new strategic possibilities of the internet, how these new technological possibilities could exert international political leverage, and how they can be applied by a nation on the path to Independence.

Separating the Sheep from the Goats among Africa's Separatist Movements

Currently at least 12 separatist/secessionist movements are engaged in negotiations or campaigns of violence (guerrilla and regular armed conflict) in Africa. But though they are agreed on the need for radical constitutional change, they are not agreed on the solutions. More than that, they rarely maintain a unity of aim within their ranks at any given moment of time, or a consistency of aim over time. It is these shifting political objectives and the nature of the calculations behind them that this article intends to examine. At every stage of the conflict the movements' leaders have to assess the advantages of a secessionist policy as opposed to a separatist (or re-negotiated unitary state) policy. This article finds that among the most crucial factors to be weighed are popular support, state response, international recognition, and personal opportunities. There are important consequences of this shifting of political objectives. It makes typologies based on their political objectives and/or methods of limited value; political support problematic; attempts by governments to induce separatist leaders to defect or compromise worthwhile; and certain elements in the population of the homeland more vulnerable. This is the biggest hindrance to successful separatist movements.

Le Théâtre franco-ontarien: Dramatic Spectacles of Linguistic Otherness

While the Quiet Revolution in Quebec was channelling the political energy of ethnolinguistic nationalism into a movement for sovereignty and its creative energy into a growing corpus of distinctly Québécois literature, francophones outside the province suddenly found themselves cut off from the traditional centre of French Canada. ‘Hors du Québec, point de salut!’ was the message from separatist leader René Lévesque, who told them they were ‘dead ducks’ unless they returned to la belle province (cited by Beauregard, 35). Bewildered by this new rejection two centuries after France abandoned them, French-speaking Canadians faced an identity crisis aggravated by a weakening of their claims for linguistic rights. Quebec’s rejection of ‘French-Canadian’ identity forced francophones outside of Quebec to redefine themselves in terms of their own historical experiences, socio-cultural traditions, and linguistic characteristics. The result has been that since Quebec turned its back on its diaspora in the late 1960s, Franco-Ontarians, Franco-Manitobans, Franco-Albertans, and Franco-Saskatchewans have joined Acadians (and Cajuns) in establishing what could be called separate subnational ethnolinguistic identities. One aspect of this identitary quest has been a renaming process along the lines of the change from ‘Canadien français to Québécois: a small number of Franco-Ontarians now prefer the term Ontarois and some Franco-Saskatchewans call themselves Saskatois.

Kashmir: Fundamentalism Takes Root

In Srinagar's Lai Chowk, the most volatile bazaar in the most volatile city in Indias most volatile state, life is as normal as life here ever gets. Merchants and marketers haggle over the price of bruised apples, auto-rickshaws jockey with oxcarts for passage through the bustling alleyways, and soldiers gaze lazily through the gun-slits of their sandbagged bunker. There's a rumor that the separatist leader Shabbir Shah will hold a rally at noon, but nobody seems particularly interested. It's almost time for lunch.

Sentido e impacto de la participación negra en la guerra de la independencia de Cuba

Blacks joined en masse the struggle for Cuba's independence from its beginning. In the process, many increased their expectations regarding their position in an igualitarian future. This article explores some dimensions of Afro-Cubans' war experiences and discusses the concerns their massive participation raised among certain white separatist leaders who did not hesitate to jeopardize Cuba Libre's most decisive victory against Spain and to lobby for U.S. intervention in order to limit the revolutionary potential of the war.

Evolution of Cuban Separatist Thought in the Emigré Communities of the United States, 1848-1895

T-HROUGHOUT the final half of the nineteenth century, Cuban emigre communities in New York, New Orleans, Key West, Tampa, and numerous other cities in the United States served as guardians and adherents of the separatist ideal. They maintained the political viability of separatism even when on the island the movement seemed dormant and unpopular. Most of the primary separatist leaders at one time or another traveled to or resided in the United States, and many of the movement's ideological formulations emerged from these communities. While the importance of the expatriate centers in maintaining and developing separatist thought has been noted in the historical literature on the Cuban independence process, few studies have examined in detail the emigre centers and the dynamics of their ideological evolution.' This is particularly surprising since it was in the emigre centers-and not Cuba-that separatist debates were conducted freely and publicly. And although it is not possible to argue that emigre thinking exactly paralleled separatist thought in Cuba, the exile centers did represent an important segment of the Cuban separatist community that cannot be ignored if we hope to advance our understanding of the Cuban independence process in general. The study of emigre opinion is of particular interest for gaining an understanding of the dynamics of change in separatist thought between