For centuries autonomy has been a public policy tool used to provide stability and cohesion to multicultural societies. Examining case studies on non-territorial autonomy arrangements in comparison with territorial autonomy examples, this volume seeks to inform both design and decision making on managing diversity.
This volume describes and analyzes alternative and emerging models of non-territorial autonomy (NTA), particularly in relation to decentralization. The authors push the NTA debate in new directions by offering a re-conceptualization based on ethno-cultural bottom-up decentralized action that redefines autonomy into its true sense of autonomous action. Through description, critical analysis, and evaluation of several case studies, this book assesses the potential for new paradigms within decentralized systems. The authors explore two approaches to political decentralization which add to the theoretical debate on NTA – network governance, which focuses on new dynamics in policy processes, and normative pluralism, which focuses on accommodating the distinctness of the groups through the subsidiarity principle with regard to their own affairs. The book explores the potential ramifications of ethno-cultural NTA institutions acting within the wider framework of state institutions and assesses the functions of these institutions as another dimension of decentralization and thus another ‘layer’ of democracy. With contemporary examples from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and South Africa, as well as theoretical aspects of the conceptualization of autonomy, this book offers a truly global perspective. It will be of great interest to policy-makers in countries experiencing adverse developments due to the pressure on public management, as well as advanced students and scholars questioning the ability of the Westphalian system to address cultural diversity.
Non-territorial autonomy (NTA) is a statecraft tool that is increasingly gaining importance in societies seeking to accommodate demands by ethno-cultural groups for a voice in cultural affairs important to the protection and preservation of their identity, such as language, education, and religion. As states recognize the specific rights of identity minorities in multicultural and multi-ethnic societies, they are faced with a need to improve their diversity management regimes. NTA offers policy-makers a range of options for institutional design adaptable to specific circumstances and historical legacies. It devolves degrees of power through legal frameworks and institutions in specific areas of ethno-cultural life, while maintaining social unity at the core level of society. Throughout Europe and North America, NTA exists and is implemented at a state, regional, and local level. Much has been written about the concept of autonomy and its usage as a statecraft tool in states facing regional division, but little literature addresses its non-territorial institutional and public administration functions. This edited volume seeks to fill this gap. Managing Diversity through Non-Territorial Autonomy: Assessing Advantages, Deficiencies, and Risks, carves a space for contextual knowledge production on NTA in law, as well as social and political sciences. Contextual knowledge involves a description of institutions and their functionality as well as of the institutional and legal frames protecting these. What are the institutions, bodies, and functions that ethno-cultural groups can draw on when seeking to have a voice over their own affairs, as well as over issues in society related to their identity production? How are these entities incorporated and empowered to have a voice? What degree of voice do they have, and how are they designed to project this voice? Thus, contextual knowledge also involves critical assessment and risk analysis as well as penetrating insights as to the unintended consequences and hidden agendas that may inform NTA policies. This volume is to provide both policy-makers and ethno-cultural groups with a tool-kit that promotes social cohesion while respecting diversity. This is the first volume in a series of five which will examine the protection and representation of minorities through non-territorial means.
This new book delivers the first English translation of 'State and Nation' and brings together a collection of distinguished and leading political scientists to provide a detailed and critical assessment of Renner's theory of national-cultural autonomy.
The WROCLAW COMMENTARIES address legal questions as well as political consequences related to freedom of, and access to, the arts and (old/new) media; questions of religious and language rights; the protection of minorities and other vulnerable groups; safeguarding cultural diversity and heritage; and further pertinent issues. Specialists from all over Europe and the world summarise and comment on core messages of legal instruments, the essence of case-law as well as prevailing and important dissenting opinions in the literature, with the aim of providing a user-friendly tool for the daily needs of decision or law-makers at different juridical, administrative and political levels as well as others working in the field of culture and human rights.
This book examines modalities for the recognition and political participation of minorities in plurinational states in theory and in practice, with a specific reference to the Republic of Turkey and the resolution of the Kurdish question. Drawing on the experience of Spain and Eastern Europe and other recent novel models for minority accommodation, including the Ottoman experience of minority autonomy (the Millet System), the volume brings together researchers from Turkey and Europe more broadly to develop an ongoing dialogue that analytically examines various models for national minority accommodation. These models promise to protect the state’s integrity and provide governmental mechanisms that satisfy demands for collective representation of national communities in the framework of a plurinational state.
This volume, Minority Self-Government in Europe and the Middle East: From Theory to Practice, is novel from several perspectives. It combines theory with facts on the ground, going beyond legal perspectives without neglecting existing laws and their implementation. Theoretical discussions transcend examining existing autonomy models in certain regions. It offers new models in the field, discussing such critical themes as environmentalism. Traditional concepts such as self-determination and well-known successful autonomy examples, including the Åland Islands, Basque and Catalonian models, are examined from different perspectives. Some chapters in this volume focus on certain regions (including Turkey, Syria, and Iraq) which have only recently received scholarly attention. Chapters complement one another in terms of their theoretical inputs and outputs from the field.
"The effective management of differences between groups within democracies1 means moving beyond the examination of individual rights. In the field of national minorities conflict prevention diplomacy, promoting the effective participation of national minorities, most often the effective participation of smaller 'nationalities' within states, is of primary concern ; it is equally as important as respect for language and education rights. Enhancing participation encourages a sense of belonging, contributes to societal integration, and even, with consistent and careful application, nurtures loyalty to the multi- ethnic state"--
Beyond Autonomy forces readers to rethink the purpose of autonomy as a central organising pillar of federalism asking how modern federalism can be reimagined in the 21st Century.
Throughout the world many sovereign states grant one or more of their territories greater autonomy than other areas. This arrangement, known as asymmetric autonomy, has been adopted with greater regularity as a solution to ethnic strife and secessionist struggles in recent decades. As asymmetric autonomy becomes one of the most frequently used conflict resolution methods, examination of the positive and negative consequences of its implementation, as well as its efficacy, is vital. Asymmetric Autonomy and the Settlement of Ethnic Conflicts assesses the ability of such power distribution arrangements to resolve violent struggles between central governments and separatist groups. This collection of new case studies from around the world covers a host of important developments, from recentralization in Russia, to "one country, two systems" in China, to constitutional innovation in Iraq. As a whole, these essays examine how well asymmetric autonomy agreements can bring protracted and bloody conflicts to an end, satisfy the demands of both sides, guarantee the physical integrity of a state, and ensure peace and stability. Contributors to this book also analyze the many problems and dilemmas that can arise when autonomous regions are formed. For example, powers may be loosely defined or unrealistically assigned to the state within a state. Redrawn boundaries can create new minorities and make other groups vulnerable to human rights violations. Given the number of limited self-determination systems in place, the essays in this volume present varied evaluations of these political structures. Asymmetric state agreements have the potential to remedy some of humanity's most intractable disputes. In Asymmetric Autonomy and the Settlement of Ethnic Conflicts, leading political scientists and diplomatic experts shed new light on the practical consequences of these settlements and offer sophisticated frameworks for understanding this path toward lasting peace.
