Stateless Nations Research Articles

Liminal geopolitics: the subjectivity and spatiality of diplomacy at the margins

This paper argues that the lens of liminality has the potential to enrich scholarship in critical geopolitics by offering a nuanced approach to the geographies and ambivalence of political subjectivity. In the context of a perceived proliferation of ‘new’ actors the paper turns critical attention to what happens at the threshold between the categories of state and non‐state, official and unofficial diplomacy. It asks what such a perspective on diplomacy might mean for understandings of who is, and who should be, a legitimate actor in international politics by turning to the notion of liminality as developed in cultural anthropology. This is a concept that surprisingly has been overlooked in political geography and this paper asks how geographers might engage more productively with it, particularly in light of emergent critical international relations research on liminality as a paradigm for understanding stability and change in institutionalised orders. Empirically, the paper focuses on the articulation of liminal political subjectivities and spatialities through the lens of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), a coalition of almost 50 stateless nations, indigenous communities and national minorities that currently are denied a place at international diplomatic forums. Drawing on this case study, the paper examines three areas of geopolitical enquiry that the notion of liminality opens up. First is the spatiality of diplomacy in terms of the out‐of‐placeness of liminal actors and the construction of transformative spaces of quasi‐official diplomacy. Second are particular qualities of political subjectivity, including the blurring of boundaries between diplomacy and activism, and the notion of geopolitical shapeshifters. Finally, attention turns to the notion ofcommunitasto draw out the politics of belonging, recognition and legitimacy. The paper concludes by suggesting that the idea of ambivalence that underpins liminality is a useful provocation to take creativity and aspiration seriously in geopolitics.

El papel de las capitales en la construcción de la identidad territorial en las naciones sin estado

The designation of a city as capital is one of the momentous moments in national construction. The capitals have extraordinary symbolic value because it is in these institutions lie and say and show their power, and can concentrate cultural and economic organizations to strengthen their centrality. The main objective of this article is to analyze whether in the case of some of the stateless nations the development of their institutions of self-government imitates, as the capital is concerned, States. For this, the paper describes and defines indicators centrality and apply to the cities of Quebec, Edinburgh, Brussels, Vitoria, Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona.

Anti-Romani Terrorism in Europe

AbstractThis article analyzes terrorism against the Roma in Europe. It identifies acts of terrorism in violence that targets the largest stateless nation on the continent and categorizes this terrorism according to current research methods. Focusing on events in both Western and Eastern Europe, the article analyses and compares the most significant terrorist acts against the Roma of recent years. It concludes that anti-Romani terrorism is heterogeneous in terms of tactics, strategies, and ideological justification, yet can usually be subsumed into the broadly conceived category of far-right terrorism. The variety of attacks suggests that terrorist acts are an offshoot of the broad spectrum of anti-Romani activity, and are influenced by contemporary trends in inter-ethnic violence.

Mapping media accountability in stateless nations: The case of Catalonia

Abstract This article draws on the results of a research project on media accountability instruments in Catalonia. We map out media accountability in Catalonia focusing on institutional self-regulation instruments and outline their history compared to that of equivalent instruments in the rest of Spain and Europe. We discuss how the situation in Catalonia differs significantly from that of Spain in the context of Hallin and Mancini’s media systems models. We argue that including the cultural domain in an analysis of media accountability provides a more accurate understanding of the media system in stateless nations. We conclude that the culture of journalistic accountability in Catalonia is more closely aligned with the Corporatist or Liberal model than with the Mediterranean one and thus that the economic and political spheres alone do not provide a true picture of national realities when assessing media accountability.

Recalling modernity: how nationalist memories shape religious diversity in Quebec and Catalonia

In this article, I explore how nations without states, or ‘stateless nations’ respond to new forms of religious diversity. Drawing on the cases of Quebec and Catalonia, I do so by tracing the historical emergence of the cultural narratives that are mobilized to support institutional responses to diversity and the way they bear on contemporary controversies. The article builds on recent research and theorizations of religious diversity and secularism, which it expands and specifies by spelling out how pre‐existing cultural anxieties stemming from fears over national survival are stored in collective memories and, if successfully mobilized, feed into responses to migration‐driven religious diversification. I show that while Quebec and Catalonia were in many ways similarly positioned before the onset of powerful modernization processes and the resurgence of nationalism from the 1960s onwards, their responses to religious diversity differ dramatically.

States, Nations, and Territorial Stability: Why Chinese Hegemony Would Be Better for International Order

How would a hegemonic China shape international norms related to states, nations, and territoriality? Scholars have noted the conflict between the right of minority nations to self-determine and the right of states to maintain their territorial integrity. An unrestricted application of the former would risk considerable state fragmentation; an unconditional acceptance of the latter would condemn stateless nations to a subordinate status. Powerful actors like the United States have attempted to navigate these norms by specifying the conditions under which one norm should take precedence over the other, but such decisions are difficult to make in an international environment that lacks consensus, and the result is an ambiguous international order where conflict is common. I analyze the future of these norms in a Chinese-led international order, explaining why China would champion territorial integrity over self-determination, and why this would be better for territorial stability.

Stateless nations, western European regional nationalism and the old nations

Julius Friend's Stateless nations is a testimony that regional nationalism is not a phenomenon of the past. On the contrary, with time, it is becoming more assertive. Friend uses a nuanced analysis...

Civic Borders and Imagined Communities: Continuity and Change in Scotland’s Municipal Boundaries, Jurisdictions and Structures—from 19th-Century “General Police” to 21st-Century “Community Empowerment”

The roles and status of Scotland’s municipalities are perennially contested and contingent, but contributed disproportionately to national identity in the “stateless nation” of 1707–1999 (McCrone, 1992; McGarvey, 2014). This article considers Scottish municipal development over time, using Benedict Anderson’s “imagined community”, “simultaneity”, and the approach of historical institutionalism (1983: passim). It traces the emergence of modern municipal structures in the nineteenth-century under successive “General Police” Acts, informed by the ethos of local self-government. It next examines the role of community identity versus community of interest in municipal consolidations and boundary disputes, as the ideological winds shifted towards municipal socialism, progressivism and economies of scale. The analysis turns to twentieth-century local government reorganisations, as UK governments of different political hues grappled with questions of subsidiarity, efficiency and democratic representation. The post-devolution and Scottish Referendum context of debates around “community empowerment” legislation are considered finally, in an historical context.

The fragmentation of the nation state? Regional development, distinctiveness, and the growth of nationalism in Cornish politics

AbstractStateless nations across the European Union have become increasingly vocal and confident in asserting a desire for autonomy, devolved governance and independence. Meanwhile, identity politics has become a key factor of contemporary European regional development, with utility as a social, economic and governance tool. Culture has become a resource for regional branding to attract inward investment and differentiate in terms of competitiveness. The paper considers whether the utility of identity to regional development might provide an explanation for the growing confidence of European Union stateless nations. We use the case study of Cornwall to explore the correlation, arguing that economic regionalism has provided a space for the articulation of national identities.

Customary law of stateless nations: some observations on the question of who can reform the Thesawalamai, the customary laws of the Tamils in Sri Lanka

Despite the definitive trend towards consolidating the Sri Lankan state as a Sinhala Buddhist state in the post-colonial context, the legal system was left intact in its plural character. In fact, the current constitution seeks to even prevent fundamental rights provisions in the constitution from overriding customary law principles in the event of clash. However, there have been calls for reform, which have focused mainly on enacting a uniform civil code. This project of uniformization advertently or inadvertently aids the monist consolidation of the Sri Lankan state. This paper argues that the Sri Lankan Parliament and courts lack political legitimacy to amend the Thesawalamai, which the paper characterizes as pre-state law, leave alone abolishing it and enacting a uniform civil code. The legitimacy deficit of Sri Lankan institutions is built on the long history of brutal repression of the Tamil struggle for self-determination. The paper suggests that a viable, politically legitimate process for reforming the Thesawalamai can only be put in place if the national question is settled to the satisfaction of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. It further suggests that placing the responsibility of amending the pre-state law of the Tamils in the hands of institutions which they consider to be politically legitimate and representative is the best path to reforming the Thesawalamai.

How do prospects of EU membership influence support for secession? A survey experiment in Catalonia and Scotland

The past years have been eventful for secessionist movements in Europe and in particular in Scotland and Catalonia. Supporters and opponents of secession of both stateless nations considered their prospects for future EU membership as an important part of the campaigns leading to the referendums. The article’s aim is to explore whether international factors influence domestic support for secession. In order to answer this puzzle, an on-line survey experiment (n = 2408) was carried out in Catalonia and Scotland in which respondents were confronted with different scenarios concerning the EU membership of their hypothetical new state (inclusion or exclusion). Contrary to the general perception, the prospects of EU membership had only a limited effect on support for the creation of a sovereign state. Moreover, it was found that the impact was strongly mediated by the participants’ previous degree of nationalism and their attitudes with respect to the EU.

Televisión de proximidad en naciones sin Estado. Comparación del caso catalán y escocés

La televisión de proximidad es uno de los pilares fundamentales en la configuración identitaria de las naciones sin Estado. Los prestadores que ofrecen contenido local son una pieza clave de los espacios comunicativos, para vincular los medios de comunicación con el territorio. Cataluña y Escocia comparten dos características que sirven de premisa para la investigación: son naciones sin Estado y cuentan con un espacio comunicativo propio. A partir de enfoques teóricos basados en las teorías de servicio público (PSB) y de proximidad cultural, exponemos la situación de los prestadores audiovisuales locales en cada uno de estos casos. La metodología cualitativa basa en la consulta de documentación oficial e inédita; las entrevistas a prestadores, reguladores y expertos de las dos regiones; y la observación no participante en las emisoras de ambos territorios. Cataluña cuenta con una amplia tradición de televisión local. Actualmente existen once canales de televisión pública de proximidad, operados por Consorcios constituidos directamente por agrupaciones de gobiernos municipales, que comparten contenido de forma regular a través de la red Xarxa Audiovisual Local. En Escocia ha habido una falta histórica de televisión local, y recientemente se han adjudicado dos canales (Edimburgo y Glasgow) al mismo prestador comercial que ya operaba un canal generalista en la región. La comparación de dos panoramas nacionales distintos con puntos de partida en común, permite evidenciar la multiplicidad de posibilidades existentes a la hora de configurar la oferta audiovisual de proximidad, vinculada a las capas de identidad más próximas a la ciudadanía.

The governance of religious diversity in stateless nations: the case of Catalonia

ABSTRACTAcademic literature dealing with the governance of religious diversity in Europe has gained saliency in recent years. However, most existing research is based on state-level policies, while the role of regional government is receiving far less attention. To address this lacuna, this article focuses attention on the role of the regional government in the regulation of religious diversity in Catalonia. The article reflects on the increasing relevance of religious affairs in the Catalan policy agenda and examines the emergence and configuration of a specific, distinct and prominent regional policy programme on religious diversity. The case of Catalonia is especially relevant since its ongoing nation-building project bestows additional complexity and strategic relevance on the policy approach towards religious issues.

Fascism or ustashism? Ukrainian integral nationalism of the 1920s–1930s in comparative perspective

Although considering Ukrainian integral nationalism as a variety of fascism is not without foundation (especially within the framework of the history of ideas), the fascist model has a limited heuristic value for the Ukrainian case. The proper designation for the ideology and practice of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and similar movements in stateless nations is not fascism, but rather ustashism (from the Croatian Ustaša), which can be defined as revolutionary integral nationalism developing under conditions of perceived foreign oppression and using violence for the purpose of national liberation and the creation of an independent authoritarian state.

Who negotiates for a nation? Catalan mobilization and nationhood before the Spanish democratic transition, 1970–1975

Much of the literature on democratic transitions and ethnic conflict focuses on the role of elites, whether as constructive contributors to ethnic harmony and pacted transitions, or as fomenters of disharmony. What these accounts often fail to take into account is the extent to which the existence of political elites is a variable in itself, particularly when their power bases are not organizations like an army but rather nations or classes. The article develops an analysis of how competition for scarce militants and the demands of organizing them shapes the power and importance of elites. It does this through a case study of Catalonia in the years preceding the Spanish transition. During those years Catalonia, both a stateless nation and a potentially divided society, was the site of organizing from the left and right that nearly monopolized militants and channelled their activity into autonomist, inclusive forms of nationalist mobilization that stifled attempts at internal polarization while creating elites who could negotiate on Catalonia's behalf in the transition. In other words, the ability of moderate Catalan nationalists to organize before the transition explains their ability to represent Catalonia and control its fissures later, and contributes to explaining the success of Catalonia as a case of peaceful multinational coexistence.

How a War for the Past Becomes a War in the Present

Nothing is new under the sun: whether in Soviet times, before, or after, was used and misused in Ukraine for numerous aims and occasions. In the 19th century, Ukraine followed the classic pattern of 19th-century revivalist nationalism characteristic of stateless nations (e.g., Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, and Ukrainians). Here the absence of the state predetermined the mode of action undertaken by social agents (the intelligentsia, for instance): their aim was to liberate their nations-in-the-making from the empires in which they found themselves. Their appeal to was part of the creation of the nation's Self, the formation of identity (in which was construed as the nation's memory), and the legitimization of the nation's right to existence and its claim to statehood. (1) The nationalizing state of Ukraine after the 1990s took up this tradition but with an important twist: the state was presented as--and itself became--the commissioner of the discourse and policies. Therefore, and historians were mobilized to perform a major task: to construct (or to reconstruct) a picture of the past that would explain the present and that would legitimize the new nation-state and its titular nation. History (which in many respects was readily and unwittingly confused with collective memory) became a part of civic education of the nationalizing state. The pattern of self-assertion after 1991 was the same as before, although the conditions were different. The resulting version of national was inevitably essentialist and culturally exclusivist in the sense that it construed the of Ukraine as the of ethnic Ukrainians, largely ignoring the other peoples who have inhabited the country's terrain. Its promoters presented it as a and as a part of the collective memory of the Ukrainian people. The retreat to this true history was also presented as an antithesis to die historical lethargy or amnesia imposed by Soviet rule on the Ukrainian people. It was accordingly challenged by die Soviet version of history--itself represented as collective memory in the same manner--which retained purchase among considerable portions of Ukraine's citizenry. Officially, that Soviet version was not banned by die state, and elements of it persisted everywhere--in school curricula, in lieux de memoire, in commemoration practices. In some regions, particularly the Donbas, Crimea, and southeastern Ukraine, the Soviet version was deliberately cultivated by members of the local elite. This promotion was partly the function of their own ideological preferences and partly a way for them to preserve Soviet-style patrimonialism--the top-down relationship between protective red directors, top bureaucrats, and their dependents. The Soviet-nostalgic variant of history/memory was also attractive (mostly to members of the older generation) because of the excesses of wild capitalism and the social crisis of the 1990s, and on account of the uncertainties of the post-2008 period, which featured a new social and economic crisis. For this part of the population, the principles of cheap bread and social benefits characteristic of the Soviet past, together with memories of the great country that was victorious in the Great Patriotic War, remained a normal part of their cultural baggage. (2) According to a sociological survey of the Ukrainian population in 2010, 46 percent of respondents regretted the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A majority of them (55-65 percent) lived in eastern and southern Ukraine. (3) Western Ukraine represented a contrasting attitude: there only 16 percent viewed the USSR's end unfavorably. It might be said that by the beginning of the 2000s, three major types of history/collective memory had emerged, two of which stand in direct opposition to each other. One is a national(ist) version, which emphasizes the exclusive role and position of Ukrainians in Ukrainian history. …

Scotland: Nation without Nationalism?

In the period before 1990s two concepts were used to describe the Scottish political development: “Nation without nationalism” and “The stateless nation”. After the devolution of 1998 and electoral achievements of SNP neither of these constructions can properly characterize the processes, undergoing in Scotland. The forming of new alignment of political powers in Scotland is not yet fi nished, but so far its development leads to the emergence of political con fi guration separated from that of All-British, with regard to extreme weakening of “big” parties in Scotland.

Inner Exile and Alternative National Identifications after the Spanish Civil War: Imagining the Basque Country in Ramon Saizarbitoria's 100 metro

This study explores the representation of national identities and their relationship to inner exile in the Spanish translation of the Basque novel 100 metro, by Ramon Saizarbitoria, which narrates the last 100 metres an ETA member runs before being shot to death by the police. According to its publishers, 100 metro is the first novel in the Basque language to be translated into Spanish (as Cien metros). The present reading questions the concept of inner exile (exile within the borders of one's own nation) as it applies to stateless nations within the Spanish state. Paul Ilie's model considers inner exile a consequence of the split in the national unity caused by territorial exile, which does not work with minority nations within the Spanish state. For the present analysis, inner exile is redefined as a conflict between the individual and the official national discourse and is used to examine national constructions within the Basque Country.

Identity shift: The Case of Roma People in the European Union

In the EU 28, the Roma people are the largest European minority. Unevenly spread, having in almost all the countries a peripheral social position and often generating harsh problems due to this position, the Roma had got, in the last two decades, a clear conscience of their ethnic identity. Moreover, the Roma elites are speaking about a “Roma stateless (European) nation”. In this respect, the Roma became a geopolitical factor that cannot be neglected. The paper presents a series of results of a field research on Roma identity, achieved this year in urban and rural areas form nine Romanian counties and in Bucharest. There were more than 60 in depth interviews with adult persons that identified themselves as Roma, belonging both to the elite (high educated persons, occupying official and/or prestige positions) and to ordinary social classes.

Small nations, the press and the digital challenge

This editorial begins by discussing the current challenges faced by the Scottish press, in the run-up to the referendum on independence. It focuses on a gradual transition to a new business model that is combining print and digital content. The particular dilemmas faced in Scotland are also being addressed elsewhere, but in quite distinctive ways. A brief overview of comparable nation-states (Denmark, Norway) and stateless nations (Catalonia, Quebec) sets the stage for the five case studies that follow.