Struggle For Self-determination Research Articles

Unveiling Extra-Institutional Agency in Nationalist Contention: Transformative Events and Grassroots Mobilizations in Scotland and Catalonia (1980s-2000s)

The literature on nationalist movements in Western democracies has almost exclusively focused on ethno-nationalist parties by attributing to them the key-role of “ethnic entrepreneurs”. Yet, non-institutional actors such as social movement organizations and grassroots groups can significantly impact the history of territorial contention and reshape movements. Their role is thus explored in the Scottish and Catalan struggles for selfdetermination between the 1980s and the 2000s. Firstly, the historical analysis of transformative events shows how the latter were set in motion by non-institutional actors. While Scottish organizations and groups operated to foster cross-party cooperation, the Catalan counterparts operated to mobilize society and popular support. Secondly, a thematic analysis of primary sources shows that the mobilizations fuelled by these events produced organizational and cultural changes in both nationalist movements. These changes left their legacy suggesting that former grassroots mobilizations made an important difference to resources mobilized in the current secessionist movements.

Media fuss over stranded tourists, but Kanaks face existential struggle

Commentary: For two weeks in May 2024, protests by pro-independence indigenous Kanaks in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia erupted into a wave of rioting; erection of barricades; and burning of factories, shops and homes with the deaths of seven people – five Melanesians and two gendarmes. Since the late 1980s the Kanak independence movement had been consistently engaging with the 1988 Matignon then 1998 Nouméa Accords with Paris in an evolving process as part of their struggle for self-determination. The Nouméa Accord set out a framework for transferring power to the people of New Caledonia, through a series of three referenda. However, after France moved to unilaterally break with the Accords and declare independence as being off the table that the country returned to a state of unrest. This article recalls the influence of one of the leaders of the 1980s upheaval, Éloi Machoro.

The War on Tigray: Geopolitics and the Struggle for Self-Determination

Tigray continues to be a unique case among ancient kingdoms, Westphalia nation-states, post-colonial Africa, and post-Cold War national liberation struggles. It is one of the oldest civilizations (Aksumite Kingdom) and the historical, cultural, and political soul of ancient and modern Ethiopia. But it was made to be an ‘oppressed nation struggling for regional autonomy and survival from genocidal aggression’ by the empire state of Ethiopia and the ‘garrison state’ of Eritrea. It also survived Egyptian and Mahdist expansionists, and Italian colonialism, though it lost ‘Bahre-Negash’ (Eritrea) to Italy due to the Wuchale Agreement (or Treaty of Wichale) in 1889. Eritrea was handed over to Italian colonialists by Menelik II of Shewa-Amhara in order to weaken Tigray’s geopolitical power base. Tigray was also the hotbed of the first Woyane rebellion in 1943 which sparked the idea of ‘land to the Tiller, fair taxation, and self-rule,’ and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) led the second Woyane rebellion (1975–91) that restructured the empire state of Ethiopia into a federation with the 1995 constitution. Since 2018, after 27 years of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)- led federal experiment, Tigray again became a victim of a ‘genocidal war’ led by the Ethiopian federal army, Amhara forces, Ethiopian regional forces, and Eritrean army, supported by UAE and Turkey drones, and the Somalian army. The international community and the African Union supported Abiy Ahmed and Issaias Afewerki’s genocidal war in the name of “maintaining the territorial integrity of Ethiopia” by neglecting the principles of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), people’s self-determination rights, and the prevention of genocide. Tigray, therefore, is a rare case in the vicious cycle of violence. The Tigrayan ‘two-year’ survival war (from November 2020 to November 2022) against those who practice genocide was destined to break Tigray’s historically vicious cycle of violence perpetrated by Ethiopia and Eritrea. The paper aims to investigate the historical, geopolitical, and security reasons that have trapped Tigray into facing the post-2020 genocidal war.

Modalities of the Sacred in the Lumad Struggle for Sustainabilities and Futures

Indigenous peoples enact and cultivate local knowledge based on their own developed practices of resource use, which are entwined with their struggle for self-determination. This article seeks to demonstrate how these actions are configured in multiple ways, as in the case of the Lumad of Mindanao, who, like other indigenous groups worldwide, are engaged in the struggle for national liberation. An elaboration of the Lumad-Manobo’s notions of sacred spaces and myths is presented. This includes the production and reproduction of sustenance, resource use, and political mobilization. This article also seeks to trace the movements and modalities of value as an aspiration among displaced Lumad children and the more concrete forms of labor involved in producing these values in indigenous knowledge of sacred spaces.

Singularities of Timor-Leste’s Process of Self-Determination (1974–2002)

Abstract The self-determination of Timor-Leste presents singular features in contexts of Portuguese decolonization and global politics. It spans three periods: Portugal’s territorial reconfiguration after the Carnation Revolution; re-colonization under a major international player in global decolonization; and direct involvement of the United Nations in final phases leading to independence. It distinctively combines struggle for self-determination with a plight for broad human rights. A transnational multitude of actors, from colonial and neo-colonial powers to the UN and leading regional and world powers, blended state diplomacy with “citizens diplomacy” arising from the mobilization of civil society and the impact of international public opinion.

White Liberalism and Black Consciousness in Rosie Motene’s Reclaiming the Soil (2018)

White liberal gestures of kindness such as interventions to alleviate poverty in black communities are often seen as altruistic initiatives with noble intentions. However, in recent years, these interventions have come under greater scrutiny as scholars question the “white savior mentality” that often frames and propels such initiatives. In fact, contemporary neo-liberal interventions bear resemblance with the colonial civilizing mission because of their preoccupation with fixing problems in “broken” black communities. This article draws on Steve Biko’s notion of black consciousness and some concepts from black feminist thought to explore how Rosie Motene’s autobiography, Reclaiming the Soil: A Black Girl’s Struggle to Find her African Self (henceforth Reclaiming the Soil) interrupts the hegemonic liberal narrative of white saviorism to insert an alternative narrative of black struggle for self-determination. The study has three objectives. Firstly, it investigates how the autobiography narrates Motene’s lived experiences as a black girl adopted by and growing up within a white family. Secondly, it explores how the autobiography narrates liberal white saviorism in the context of apartheid racism and discrimination. Thirdly, it examines how the contradictions of the apartheid system and the white savior narrative awaken feelings of resentment and ultimately black consciousness in the narrator. The study argues that Motene’s autobiography is a “black consciousness” text that highlights the inherent contradictions of being white and liberal in a society that systemically entrenches poverty and suffering for black people to serve white interests.

The natural resource management in Nunavut and Greenland – a perspective through historical institutionalism

ABSTRACT This article compares the self-government system in Greenland in Denmark and territorial governance in Nunavut, Canada in relation to the management of natural resources through the perspective of historical institutionalism. Both territories have undergone processes of re-empowerment, and possess major assets of natural resources, and the struggle for self-determination has triggered their metropolitan states (Denmark and Finland) and regional governments to consider some form of self-government. However, two different solutions have appeared due to gradual development through path dependency as legislation and form of government. Nunavut is a territory within the Canadian federal construction, based on Indigenous claims, while Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Danish unitary state. The land claims in Canada have given Nunavut some influence in the management of its natural resources, while Greenland has taken control of its subterranean resources through extended self-government implemented in 2009. This article will highlight the resource policy similarities and differences of the two territories via three potential explanatory factors: historical background, self-government, and the management of natural resources as a point of departure. The findings show that both regions have similarities in historical background and the management of natural resources, but there are also significant differences in how local authorities have addressed mining projects.

‘We will not Relax our Efforts’: The Anti-Nuclear Stance of Civil Society and Government in Post-Independence Fiji

ABSTRACT In the years immediately following independence, Fiji took advantage of its position as the first Pacific Island country in the United Nations to highlight the harms of French nuclear testing. Building on the outspoken efforts of Fijian civil society that reflected deep concerns in the region, the government of Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara took on an increasingly activist role in the international arena around the testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific. Fiji’s advocacy over this time represented an important moment in Pacific Way politics, tying nuclear resistance to self-determination struggles. Anti-nuclear sentiment at both a community and political level positioned Pacific agency and perspectives in this global discourse. Revisiting the speeches and diplomatic efforts of the Fijian government alongside the advocacy and activities of the ATOM group offers lessons on the importance of collaborative politics in the face of transboundary harms and regional challenges.

The Impact of International Diplomacy on Combating Global Terrorism

Insecurity had defined the global arena with insurgency and terrorism increasing by leaps and bounds. Therefore, defining terrorism as a discrete international crime under the purview of international law normatively recognizes and protects vital international community values and interests. The issue of terrorism symbolically expresses community condemnation, and stigmatizes offenders. In proper analysis context the paper opines that any definition of terrorism also accommodates reasonable claims to political violence, particularly against repressive governments, and this paper examines the range of exceptions, justifications, excuses, defenses, and amnesties potentially available to terrorists, as well as purported exceptions such as self-determination struggles. The paper further seeks to minimize recourse to violence, it recognizes that international law should not become complicit in oppression by criminalizing legitimate forms of political resistance and instead diplomacy can be applied in such scenario. In the absence of an international generally accepted definition of terrorism, the paper explores how the international community has responded to terrorism in international and ‘regional’ treaties, the United Nations system, and in customary law which has proof that diplomacy is a vital instrument in the global combat of terrorism. The conclusion of the paper explores the distinctive prohibitions and crime of ‘terrorism’ in armed conflict under international humanitarian law.

“Invading Indigenous Territory is Not Reconciliation”: Problematizing War Frames in News Coverage of Wet’suwet’en Solidarity Actions

Context: Leading up to the March 2020 global COVID-19 lockdown, an important movement was building power across so-called Canada. What began as a continuation of the decades-long, localized struggle for self-determination in Wet’suwet’en territory quickly became a focal point for nationwide Indigenous resistance, refusal, and solidarity. Analysis: Drawing from literature on media framing, this article examines the use of war frames in early 2020 news depictions of mobilizations in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en. The analysis suggests that war frames are operationalized to simultaneously naturalize police violence while also validating the sovereignty of Indigenous nations. Conclusion and implications: This work contributes not only to the literature on the framing of protests by the mainstream media but also to the ongoing project of unsettling conditions of settler colonial power in Canadian society.

The right to nationality of the Saharawis and their legal identity documents

ABSTRACT The Western Sahara territory is a non-self-governing territory under international law with an ongoing struggle for self-determination from colonisation and alien occupation. The unresolved statehood of the Western Sahara territory complicates the nationality status of the indigenous Saharawis and threatens their human right to a nationality. Legal identity documents have implications for the right to nationality of the individual under international law. Morocco (as the occupying power in control of most of the Western Sahara territory) and the Polisario Front (as the national liberation movement engaged in the struggle against colonisation and alien occupation) issue legal identity documents to the Saharawis. This article ascertains that these documents have an effect on the right to nationality of the Saharawis. This article finds that while the Moroccan-issued documents violate the Saharawis’ right to nationality, the Polisario Front-issued documents uphold this right and could clarify the Saharawis' nationality status.

Ethnicity and the Kurdish Questions in the Middle East

The Kurdish question could be considered as an ethnic question in Middle East politics, which remains unsolved. As the largest stateless ethnic groups, most of its population exists in the four Middle East countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. In contemporary times, the polarisation along ethnic lines has become central to the Kurdish question in Middle East politics. Presently, most existing expertise on Kurdish politics gave the numbers aspect of the Kurdish national struggle in the Middle East. The historical exclusion and assimilation of Kurd ethnic identity by dominant ethnic identity and challenges faced by the Kurds, such as statelessness, marginalisation, and conflict, always look like the Ethnic matter of the Kurdish question in the Middle East. This research paper delves into the complex interplay between ethnicity and the Kurdish question in the Middle East. The paper begins by tracing the historical origins of the Kurdish people. It examines the evolution of the Kurdish question, analysing the socio-political and cultural factors that have shaped their struggle for self-determination.

Why recognition? Deciphering justice claims in 2016 Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon

ABSTRACT Scholars attribute the 2016 Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon to systematic marginalisation of the English-speaking minority whose rights are constitutionally guaranteed but remain violated. However, marginalisation fails to explain why the peaceful-Independent Anglophone Elites (IAEs), consisting of lawyers, teachers, civil society organisations and Anglophone associations at home and abroad, who stood behind the 2016 Crisis, refused to bolster claims over economic redistribution or political representation. Instead, in 2016 they chose to engage in the struggle for self-determination and recognition of the Anglophone identity. Through Nancy Fraser's identity model and in-depth interviews with IAEs, we show that they perceived the recognition claim and a return to a federal state as a guarantee not only to the survival of the IAEs, but also to the solution of other forms of injustices, such as misrepresentation, misrecognition, and maldistribution.

Exploring Naga Life, Culture, and Gender Representation through the Writings of Easterine Kire: A Study of Don't Run, My Love and the Nagas' Struggle for Self-Determination

This research focuses on the Nagas, a large population residing along the Indo-Myanmar border, known for their distinct culture and language. The study examines the works of Easterine Kire, a renowned literary figure from Nagaland, with a particular emphasis on her novel Don't Run, My Love. The objective is to explore how Kire's writings provide insights into Naga life, culture, and society. The Nagas, comprising approximately three million people, form a multi-ethnic community dispersed across different countries. Since 1947, they have been actively involved in a movement for self-determination, striving for a separate Nagaland state. However, their journey has been marked by ethnic conflicts and insurgencies as they struggle for cultural autonomy and political recognition. This research analyses the impact of colonialism, regionalism, and identity politics on the Naga community, considering the historical and sociological contexts that shape their collective consciousness as a separate and independent nation. Drawing on Kire's novel, the study examines the folktale or allegory presented in Don't Run, My Love, which explores the complexities and dangers of romantic love through the perspectives of two female characters, Visenuo and Atuonuo. By challenging the prevailing notion of male supremacy in patriarchal societies, Kire highlights the inner strength of these women, contributing to a broader discourse on gender roles and empowerment. The narrative also delves into the Naga cycle of life, seasons, and harvest, providing insights into their agrarian practices, particularly the Angami technique of land irrigation through terracing and irrigation.

Self-Determination, Nationalism, Development and Pan-Africanism Stuck on the Runway: Are Intellectuals to be Blamed?

Almost fifty years after independence that aspiration of regaining lost human dignity seems stuck on the runway – warranting ‘the people‘s distress call’ for a genuine take-off. The questions that come to mind given the plethora of problems plaguing the continent are many and varied. First, does Africa want to develop? Second, what kind of independence did Africa get? Third, through which means must Africa address its problems? What has been the role of its intellectuals? What are the responses of the international community, particularly the former colonial masters in structuring and influencing the destiny of the continent for good or bad? In short, what is the trouble with Africa?This paper looks at the litany of national deficiencies that give the continent a bad image, leaving it unable to address the plethora of problems confronting the region. Why Africans have resigned themselves to their existing peril and why African governments must give content and meaning to the aspirations of the people under the canopy of the rising tide of globalization and the information communication technology age. This essay considers the dialectic of micro-nationalism, nationalism, development and globalization— which define the place of Africa within the world system—besides forcing a serious reflection on ways in which citizenship and development can be reconceptualised beyond the mere confines of the existing nation-state order.This discussion addresses issues underpinning the struggles for self-determination, African renaissance and the unity of

Two Theories of Self-Determination: The Discourse of Democratic Peoplehood in Colonial Korea

This article examines two distinct ways in which anticolonial thinkers in early twentieth-century Korea reconstructed their nondemocratic tradition in an attempt to justify (rather than take for granted) the claim of self-determination. The exposure to modern education and ideas of democracy prompted these thinkers to critically engage their tradition in the struggle for self-determination. That said, they could not simply abandon the cultural foundation of their nation. Japanese colonial rule drew its legitimacy from not only an assimilation ideology that the Japanese and Koreans shared the same ethnic origin but also a developmentalist conception of the colonized that they were premodern and incapable of self-rule. To reject imperial domination, Korean anticolonial thinkers needed to invent out of their country’s nondemocratic tradition (1) an unassimilable nation/people (2) capable of self-rule. Drawing upon the political writings of two early twentieth-century thinkers in colonial Korea, Yi Kwang-su (1892–1950) and Cho So-ang (1887–1958), I discover from their political thought two nuanced approaches to this project of inventing “the people” in the colonial world. I argue that while Yi succeeded in rebutting the colonial ideology of assimilation, he fell into the trap of developmentalism. I contend that Cho, on the contrary, sidestepped this trap with his revisionist reading of the Confucian past as a history of democratic transformation, thus providing an immediate alternative to imperial sovereignty.

A Peace Education Model for Aligning the Aim of Indigenous People for Self-Determination with the Socio-Political Aims of Government: Bangladesh Context

This article addresses the challenge indigenous cultures in South Asia face in their struggle for self-determination and to have their distinctive identity officially recognized. In such struggles, the focus is often on the extent to which the government is either supportive of the rights of indigenous cultural groups or guilty of violating their rights. In this respect, human rights are seen as a manifestation of good governance, and human rights violations are an indication of bad governance, consequently a source of social conflict. This is especially important when engaging in peacebuilding in contexts where social groups feel that their struggle to realize their rights results in a conflictual relationship with the government. This article explains a peace education model for achieving the aim of greater self-determination by transforming what was regarded as opposition to government into common goals based on shared values and the agreement to cooperate to achieve the shared aim of human, social, and sustainable development.

The classes and class struggles contents of the Bangsamoro question

PurposeThere is a noticeable dearth of literature offering Marxist perspectives and analyses on the Bangsamoro struggles for self-determination, ethnic and religious identities and social justice. A reason for this may lie in the general derision of bourgeois academics and conventional commentators on the supposed paucity of Marxist theories on nationalism, ethnicity and religion. This may have influenced, ironically, Filipino Marxist thinkers into being indifferent to this research topic. Far from the truth, however, that Marxism is essentially an economic determinist social conflict theory, its historical materialism offers a rich treasury of analyses and perspectives on nationalism, self-determination, religion and ethnic identity within the context of class struggles as the acme of the theory of scientific socialism. The paper, therefore, offers a scientific analysis of the Bangsamoro Question from a Marxist standpoint beyond the perspectives of psychologism, naturalism and ethno-racialism, which are usually deployed by traditional and uninformed commentators in analyzing ethnicity questions and quests for separatism.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs the historical and class analysis of the dynamics, relationships and struggles of classes in the history of the Bangsamoro struggles against colonialism and the subsequent postcolonial regimes up to the present time.FindingsAs a scientific paradigm, historical materialism presents itself as a general scientific social conflict theory. Using this framework through historical and class analyses, the paper proves the improbability of the Moros’ quest for separatism or genuine autonomy at this historical point. It, therefore, asserts the linking of the Moro struggles to the more immense struggles of the Filipinos for national and social liberation from imperialism.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is limited to the historical and class analyses of classes’ dynamics and struggles. It is, therefore, far from an exhaustive analysis of the Moro struggles using different non-Marxist social conflict theories.Practical implicationsThe research can be considered a practical guide in analyzing and predicting the trajectories of the Moro struggles in Mindanao and Sulu.Social implicationsThe work addresses the question from radical and Marxist premises.Originality/valueThis is a highly original and valuable work from the point of view of Marxist social conflict theory.

Transforming Pacifists into Warmongers? Separatist Movement, State Repression, and the Politics of Framing Terrorism in Nigeria: Evidence from IPOB and Yoruba Nation’s Freedom Frontiers

While the post-9/11 event has animated how state actors frame terrorism, contemporary studies have failed to address the politics inherent in proscribing, repressing, and labeling separatist movements as terrorists. This paper explores the politics of framing terrorism using the contemporary self-determination struggles advanced by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Yoruba Nation’s freedom frontiers. The study proposes a United Nations-coordinated global framework for regulating and evaluating states’ activities in identifying specific groups as terrorists. Taking such a stance would prevent aggrieved agitators from being persecuted by the state in the name of terror.

Special Issue Editorial

This article introduces this special issue of the International Journal of Disability and Social Justice focusing on Independent Living, understood both as a social movement and an analytic paradigm. The aim of the special issue is to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Centre for Independent Living, as well as the tenth occurrence of the Freedom Drive, a biennial advocacy event organised by the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL). We first explain the significance of these two initiatives, tracing their history and rationale in terms of disabled people’s struggle for self-determination. We then discuss the meaning of Independent Living and associated definitional struggles. In the main part of the article, we explore the relations between Independent Living and the state, the market, and the family. This helps us to understand Independent Living as critique of professional power, self-sufficiency, and parental authority. The practical implications of these critiques are explored by looking at current struggles for deinstitutionalisation and personal assistance. We conclude by presenting the pillars of Independent Living and their consideration in the contributions to this special issue.