How Separatist Groups Have Had Little Success at Gaining Autonomy from the Country Which they are Currently a Part Of
In this essay I will be aiming to explain how separatist groups have
had little success at gaining autonomy from the country which they are
currently part of. Autonomy is the right to self government and
therefore in my case study of the Basques I will assess whether they
have in my opinion been able to achieve this.
Map of Basque regionThe Basque region consists of seven "herrialdes",
or districts which, for political and administrative purposes, form
part of two different more economically developed European countries:
Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Nafarroa are in Spain, and Lapurdi,
Zuberoa and Benafarroa are in France. Three of the Basque Country's
seven historic territories, Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, in the north
of Spain, covering a total surface area of 7,233 square kilometres,
are grouped together to form a political unit known as EUSKADI, or the
Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. With a population of more
than 2.1 Million people, Euskadi gives a figure of around 300
inhabitants per square kilometre, higher than the average population
of European countries. Most people live in the larger urban areas in
the northern zone as well as densely populated coastal regions along
the 197 km coastline. In the 19th century it suffered from rural
depopulation. With the French sector containing the area where the
Pyrenees are located, this can separate the Basques from France and
unite the Basques together as a whole group, using the Pyrenees as a
defence method. As the Basques have a language of their own different...
... middle of paper ...
...peninsular, or Spanish, area. The Spanish Basque
territory is itself politically divided into two autonomous
communities: the Statutory Community of Navarre and the Autonomous
Community of the Basque Country. ETA also had an impact upon the area,
mainly the Basque region for which it wanted independence, it lead to
extreme violence and still is a problem nowadays although there was a
ceasefire in November 1999. ETA although a terrorist group has been
listened to and has had some if not all of its aims met and autonomy
even though not complete self government has occurred, it still has
some freedoms.
In my opinion I think that the Basque region could have a good and
successful autonomy if the Spanish government let them try. The
economy is strong and the social and cultural reasons for separatism
are valid points.
As the international shift towards nationalism and self-determination gained momentum in the years after World War II as a result to imperialism’s dangerous influence on the world during the war, decolonization becomes the inevitable truth for nations on both sides of the colonial relationship between an occupying country and a subjugated
A current example of this would be the ongoing Darfur genocide. Sudanese troops and Arab Janjaweed militia have been accused of causing the deaths of more than 250,000 ethnic Fur, Masala, and Zhagwa in the Darfur region of Sudan. While religious factors have been cited as part of a reason for this conflict, one of the main factors of the genocide reside in the Arab desire to settle people of their own ethnicity and religion in areas currently occupied by largely Christian ethnic groups. The Arab-controlled government of Sudan has been accused of practicing Arab-apartheid, favoring their own people over the other non-Arab groups of Sudan. In doing so, many ethnic Arab Sudanese may now believe that they are the superior ethnic group in Sudan, leading them to think that such atrocities are acceptable or necessary for the establishment of a purely Arab territory in Darfur - a way of thinking that is on the verge of exploding into extreme nationalism. By attempting to take over the Darfur region by force and eliminating those who may pose a threat or oppose this scheme, Arab peoples in Sudan are putting the effects of extreme nationalism into their actions. These unacceptable acts demonstrate how uniting a people by force and subjecting or eliminating the opposition is appalling to the utmost - and how extreme nationalism is both
1. The three components of the American System were establishing a new protective tariff, starting a new transportation system and restoring the national bank. Henry Clay thought that each of these components would strengthen and unify the nation because he thought the American system would unite the nation’s economic resources because the south would grow food and raise animals that the north would eat and in return the south would by the manufactured goods the north made. A new transportation system would allow trade between the north and the south. Now America could finally become independent economically. And the tariff would help because during the War of 1812 British merchants brought a great deal of products to the United States and sold them at much lower prices than American made goods, so the tariff would raise the prices of the British goods so the American merchants could sell their products at a lower price.
In the course of Colonization, the world was divided into binary categories of the colonizer and colonized. These binary groups were based on a division of class, gender, race, ethnicity and the oppression of cultural traditions. Traditions of language, religion, labor, and social values were based on theologies of the colonizers, enforced upon the colonized. These binaries can be associated with the Manichean binaries discussed by Frantz Fanon in his book entitled The Wretched of the Earth. In Post-Coloniality, societies gain independence either through diplomatic political transitions or violent revolutions against the occupying force. Regardless of how independence is achieved, these societies undergo a multitude of socio-cultural changes. The colonized populations struggle to rebuild their communities, individual identities and national identities. The process of this decolonization is a long-term and strenuous procedure that varies from one culture to the next. Periods of colonial oppression have negative repercussions on social structures and prohibit certain cultural growth. It is the nationalism that bonds individuals together in creating a national identity, rebuilding the state while imagining the community and representing it in the traditional cultural affiliations of the indigenous populations.
Starting from the late 19th to early 20th century, modernist writing has become widely spread as a way for people to express ideas and feelings that are written in a more isolationist form. The modernist literary movement was driven by the desire to transform writing from the classic views of the time period and begin to express the newly developed emotions that were going on at the time. Both The Guest by Albert Camus and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, are two modernist texts that strongly exhibit the feelings of emotional isolation and alienation throughout each book. In each story, the protagonist undergoes a sense of desolation, and although both characters experience the same sense of remoteness, each are isolated in different ways.
When it becomes necessary for a group of people to break away politically from its fathering countries they should declare, in writing, as to why they are taking the action.
For several years, top management felt that the decentralization concept had been successfully applied and that the company’s profits and competitive position had definitely improved.
James Fearon, ‘Separatist Wars, Partition, and World Order’, Security Studies, 13 (4), 2004 pp. 394-415.
Marilyn Frye’s “Some reflections on separatism and power” emphasizes the issue of separatism as the key to emancipating women. Frye categorizes separatism as a denial of access, one that denies men access to women. By removing oneself from any interaction with men, one also removes themselves from oppression. This idea of separatism is a significant challenge to the “structure of power,” that uses marriage and motherhood as institutions for making women available to men. In this way, separation allows women to pursue sexual equality through relationships and organization, creating a culture that is not defined by male-dominated groups. I will argue that separation is valuable for women in that it allows the cultivation of female culture in
To prove this Anthony Smith states6, “It comes as no surprise the world’s most intractable conflicts- in India and the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Horn of Africa, the Balkans and the southern Africa are either ethno-national conflicts or possess a strong nationalist component.” thereby implying that people from historical ethnic backgrounds possess a sense of nationalism and strive for it. Furthermore7, many of the first nations that emerged in the West were based on ethnic ties like England, France, Sweden, Holland and these nations acted as models for others when they came into being therefore, if we examine closely we can find clear ethnic traces in most of the nations existing in the modern
The definition of decolonization differs from person to person, from nation to nation, and from past experience to past experience. In my opinion decolonization is a thought out active resistance of colonial forces with a goal of eventually obtaining indigenous liberation. Colonialism has brought forth many problems with it. As more time passes the problems keep getting worse. Problems such as crimes being committed on Natives and loss of tradition.
effective and relevant, it needs to have well-defined goals to accomplish. When there are no
...sation that able to defend the Member States and play an active role in advancing not only the political but also the economic agenda of the OIC. The Member States are in dire need of a vibrant action-oriented organization that implement practical, workable and doable projects and initiatives with tangible result.