National Cultural Autonomy And Its Contemporary Critics

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.

In this volume, some of the world’s leading scholars involved in researching the fields of ethnopolitics, nationalism and ideas of nation and state, have come together to produce a work that is both original and accessible. The volume explores the rich, but sadly neglected tradition of thought on non-territorial cultural autonomy as exemplified by the work of Karl Renner and Otto Bauer and the European Nationalities Congress of the 1920s. Through a combination of theoretical analysis and case study approaches, the authors challenge conventional thinking on how best to reconcile competing claims over territory and cultural expression. Drawing upon a range of examples from countries such as Russia, Romania and Hungary, and by comparing the situation of territorially-based ethnic minorities with those - principally the Roma - who lack identification with a given state or states, the authors of this volume seek to supply answers and question received truths.

A definitive global survey of the interaction of race, ethnicity, nationalism and politics, this handbook blends theoretically grounded, rigorous analysis with empirical illustrations, to provide a state-of-the art overview of the contemporary debates on one of the most pervasive international security challenges today. The contributors to this volume offer a 360-degree perspective on ethnic conflict: from the theoretical foundations of nationalism and ethnicity, to the causes and consequences of ethnic conflict, and to the various strategies adopted in response to it. Without privileging any specific explanation of why ethnic conflict happens at a specific place and time or why attempts at preventing or settling it might fail or succeed, the Routledge Handbook of Ethnic Conflict enables readers to gain better insights into such defining moments in post-Cold War international history as the disintegrations of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and their respective consequences and the genocide in Rwanda, as well as the relative success of conflict settlement efforts in Northern Ireland, Macedonia, and Aceh. By contributing to understanding the varied and multiple causes of ethnic conflicts and to learning from the successes and failures of its prevention and settlement, the Handbook makes a powerful case that ethnic conflicts are neither unavoidable nor unresolvable, but rather that they require careful analysis and thoughtful and measured responses.

This book explores a largely forgotten legacy of multicultural political thought and practice from within Eastern Europe and examines its relevance to post-Cold War debates on state and nationhood. Featuring a Preface by former UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke, it weaves theory and practice to challenge established understandings of the nation state. Eastern Europe is still too often viewed through the prism of ethnic conflict, which overlooks the region’s positive contribution to modern debates on the political management of ethno-cultural diversity, and towards the construction of a united Europe ‘beyond the nation-state’. Based on extensive archival research in Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Russia, as well as the League of Nations Archive in Geneva, this book explores this neglected multicultural legacy and assesses its significance in the post-Cold War era, which has seen the reappearance of national cultural autonomy laws in several states of Eastern Europe. Ethnic Diversity and the Nation Stateis invaluable reading for students and scholars of political science, history, sociology and European studies, and also for policy makers and others interested in minority rights and ethnic conflict regulation.

Explores the ways in which the nation-state and nationalism are challenged by contemporary realities. This volume addresses changes to our understanding of national sovereignty, problems posed by violent conflict between rival national projects, the feasibility of postnationalist democracy and citizenship, and the debate over global justice.

A definitive global survey of the interaction of ethnicity, nationalism and politics, this handbook blends rigorous theoretically grounded analysis with empirically rich illustrations to provide a state-of-the-art overview of the contemporary debates on one of the most pervasive international security challenges today. Fully updated for the second edition, the book includes a new section which offers detailed analyses of contemporary cases of conflict such as in Ukraine, Kosovo, the African Great Lakes region and in the Kurdish areas across the Middle East, thus providing accessible examples that bridge the gap between theory and practice. The contributors offer a 360-degree perspective on ethnic conflict: from the theoretical foundations of nationalism and ethnicity to the causes and consequences of ethnic conflict, and to the various strategies adopted in response to it. Without privileging any specific explanation of why ethnic conflict happens at a particular place and time or why attempts at preventing or settling it might fail or succeed, The Routledge Handbook of Ethnic Conflict enables readers to gain a better insight into such defining moments in post-Cold War international history as the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and their respective consequences, the genocide in Rwanda, and the relative success of conflict settlement efforts in Northern Ireland. By contributing to understanding the varied and multiple causes of ethnic conflicts and to learning from the successes and failures of their prevention and settlement, the Handbook makes a powerful case that ethnic conflicts are neither unavoidable nor unresolvable, but rather that they require careful analysis and thoughtful and measured responses.

World’s leading theorists of multinational justice on sub-state national minority groups Almost without exception, multinational states across the West are facing existential crises precipitated by the resurgence of sub-state national minority groups. This edited volume brings together many of the world’s leading theorists of multinational justice in order to analyse two of the most frequent areas of debate and dispute in multinational federations: recognition and redistribution. The authors address questions such as the following: What are the most appropriate forms of institutional recognition for sub-state national groups? How is the concept of redistributive justice affected by the presence of federal institutions and autonomous sub-state nationalities? And what are the potential sources of stability that fractious federations can call upon? As well as extensive theoretical analyses, the book is peppered throughout with examples drawn from actual multinational states including Canada, Belgium, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Contributors Jean-François Grégoire (KU Leuven), Michael Jewkes (KU Leuven), Helder De Schutter (KU Leuven), Antoon Vandevelde (KU Leuven), Alain-G Gagnon (Université du Québec à Montréal), Geneviève Nootens (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi), Philippe Van Parijs (Université Catholique de Louvain), François Boucher (University of Montreal), Jocelyn Maclure (Université Laval), Andrew Shorten (University of Limerick), David Robichaud (University of Ottawa), Ferran Requejo (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Marc Sanjaume (Université du Québec à Montréal).