Numerous contemporary examples attest to the continued political salience of ethnic identificatio... more Numerous contemporary examples attest to the continued political salience of ethnic identification. This is the case even in multi-ethnic societies bound together by a strong overarching sense of patriotism, but it is most especially so in contexts where ethnicity has historically functioned as the building block of modern nations (Rudolph 2006). Since today’s world contains many more ethnoculturally defined nations than it does states, a tension persists between the principle of self-determination of peoples and the principle of territorial integrity of existing polities (Dembinska, Máracz, and Tonk 2014). The almost invariable overlapping of different ethno-national populations within the same territorial space renders the nation-state concept inherently problematic as a modality for ethnically based self-determination, for while all nation-state projects dictate cultural uniformity, all must contend with differing degrees of pluralism. Within the nation-state frame, those who do ...
This article explores how the concept of minority national-cultural autonomy (NCA) has been defin... more This article explores how the concept of minority national-cultural autonomy (NCA) has been defined and practiced in contemporary Estonia, combining data from interviews and previously unanalyzed archival sources to trace debates and policymaking processes back to 1988 and ascertain: why (and for whom) NCA was adopted; the functions ascribed to NCA institutions; and the effectiveness and legitimacy of the model in the eyes of different “noncore” ethnic communities. In so doing, the article uses NCA as a fresh lens for analyzing the more general politics of post-Soviet state and nation-building in the country, situating this case within the “Quadratic Nexus” framework. Estonia’s NCA law is generally viewed as irrelevant to ongoing issues of diversity governance in the country. However, Finnish and Swedish minority autonomies have been established and, in recent years, there have been three applications to establish a Russian NCA. None have been approved, and yet some authors see them...
The four articles making up this Special Issue of JEMIE are based on papers presented at the conf... more The four articles making up this Special Issue of JEMIE are based on papers presented at the conference 'Transethnic Coalition-building within and across States', held at Uppsala University on 7-9 January 2015. This conference was made possible by a grant from the Riksbanken Jubileumsfond, an independent foundation in Sweden promoting research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as additional funding provided by the main organizing partners - Uppsala Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies (UCRS), the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI), the Centre for Russian, Central and East European Studies (CRCEES) of the University of Glasgow and The Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Acknowledgements and thanks are due to all of the funders and organizers, as well as to everyone who took part in an event that brought together forty-one academic and practitioner speakers and sixty-five participants in total from twenty ...
The paper argues firstly that, since there is no obvious separatist movement within Zakarpattya, ... more The paper argues firstly that, since there is no obvious separatist movement within Zakarpattya, the Ukrainian state should seek as far as possible to accommodate Hungarian identity claims within the region (and those of other smaller minority communities living within the state) as part of a normative and instrumental strategy of promoting ‘unity in diversity’. Secondly, it argues that Ukraine’s current concept of decentralization offers space to realise the non-territorial vision of cultural autonomy, provided that sufficient attention is also given to maintaining pre-existing territorially-based provisions with regard to minority language use and political representation for Hungarians at both regional and national level.
For many years, diversity management in post-Cold War Central and Eastern Europe was viewed throu... more For many years, diversity management in post-Cold War Central and Eastern Europe was viewed through the prism of the multilateral minority rights “regime” developed through the OSCE, Council of Europe and EU. With all OSCE participating states asserting the importance of the concept during the early 1990s, minority rights were initially understood as a shared political field that could transcend rival nationalisms. This field, however, encompassed widely varying and competing definitions and was created in a context of unequal power relations between West and East. Russia – never wholly embedded within this concept of normative space – has increasingly challenged the multilateral framework rhetorically and in policy practice, as part of a more general shift toward instrumentalization of minority issues by “kin-state” actors within the region. Using new data from a 2014–17 project on practices of national-cultural autonomy (NCA) within Russia, this article demonstrates how today’s Russian state – hailing its own approach to diversity management as superior to that of the West – seeks to co-opt minority NCA bodies in Russia in the service of external policy and geopolitical competition. The article assesses how minorities respond to this strategy and the implications it might hold for ethnic relations within Russia.
This article explores how the concept of minority national-cultural autonomy (NCA) has been defin... more This article explores how the concept of minority national-cultural autonomy (NCA) has been defined and practiced in contemporary Estonia, combining data from interviews and previously unanalyzed archival sources to trace debates and policymaking processes back to 1988 and ascertain: why (and for whom) NCA was adopted; the functions ascribed to NCA institutions; and the effectiveness and legitimacy of the model in the eyes of different “noncore” ethnic communities. In so doing, the article uses NCA as a fresh lens for analyzing the more general politics of post-Soviet state and nation-building in the country, situating this case within the “Quadratic Nexus” framework. Estonia’s NCA law is generally viewed as irrelevant to ongoing issues of diversity governance in the country. However, Finnish and Swedish minority autonomies have been established and, in recent years, there have been three applications to establish a Russian NCA. None have been approved, and yet some authors see them as evidence that NCA could (and should) have a role to play in bringing about a more meaningful accommodation of ethnic diversity. Having reviewed the evidence, however, the article concludes that this claim is misplaced.
This article examines transnational activism by coalitions of national minorities in Europe from ... more This article examines transnational activism by coalitions of national minorities in Europe from the early 20th century to the present, setting this within the broader ‘security versus democracy dilemma’ that continues to surround international discussions on minority rights. Specifically, we analyse two organisations – the Federal Union of European Nationalities (1949-) and the European Nationalities Congress (1925-1938) – which, while linked, have never been subject to a detailed comparison based on primary sources. In so far as comparisons do exist, they present these bodies in highly negative terms, as mere fronts for inherently particularistic nationalisms that threatens political stability, state integrity and peace. Our more in-depth analysis provides a fresh and more nuanced perspective: it shows that, in both cases, concepts of European integration and ‘unity in diversity’ have provided the motivating goals and frameworks for transnational movements advocating common rights for all minorities and seeking positive interaction with the inter-state world.
The paper argues firstly that, since there is no obvious separatist movement within Zakarpattya, ... more The paper argues firstly that, since there is no obvious separatist movement within Zakarpattya, the Ukrainian state should seek as far as possible to accommodate Hungarian identity claims within the region (and those of other smaller minority communities living within the state) as part of a normative and instrumental strategy of promoting ‘unity in diversity’. Secondly, it argues that Ukraine’s current concept of ecentralization offers space to realise the non-territorial vision of cultural autonomy, provided that sufficient attention is also given to maintaining pre-existing territorially-based provisions with regard to minority language use and political representation for Hungarians at both regional and national level.
Numerous contemporary examples attest to the continued political salience of ethnic identificatio... more Numerous contemporary examples attest to the continued political salience of ethnic identification. This is the case even in multi-ethnic societies bound together by a strong overarching sense of patriotism, but it is most especially so in contexts where ethnicity has historically functioned as the building block of modern nations (Rudolph 2006). Since today’s world contains many more ethnoculturally defined nations than it does states, a tension persists between the principle of self-determination of peoples and the principle of territorial integrity of existing polities (Dembinska, Máracz, and Tonk 2014). The almost invariable overlapping of different ethno-national populations within the same territorial space renders the nation-state concept inherently problematic as a modality for ethnically based self-determination, for while all nation-state projects dictate cultural uniformity, all must contend with differing degrees of pluralism. Within the nation-state frame, those who do ...
This article explores how the concept of minority national-cultural autonomy (NCA) has been defin... more This article explores how the concept of minority national-cultural autonomy (NCA) has been defined and practiced in contemporary Estonia, combining data from interviews and previously unanalyzed archival sources to trace debates and policymaking processes back to 1988 and ascertain: why (and for whom) NCA was adopted; the functions ascribed to NCA institutions; and the effectiveness and legitimacy of the model in the eyes of different “noncore” ethnic communities. In so doing, the article uses NCA as a fresh lens for analyzing the more general politics of post-Soviet state and nation-building in the country, situating this case within the “Quadratic Nexus” framework. Estonia’s NCA law is generally viewed as irrelevant to ongoing issues of diversity governance in the country. However, Finnish and Swedish minority autonomies have been established and, in recent years, there have been three applications to establish a Russian NCA. None have been approved, and yet some authors see them...
The four articles making up this Special Issue of JEMIE are based on papers presented at the conf... more The four articles making up this Special Issue of JEMIE are based on papers presented at the conference 'Transethnic Coalition-building within and across States', held at Uppsala University on 7-9 January 2015. This conference was made possible by a grant from the Riksbanken Jubileumsfond, an independent foundation in Sweden promoting research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as additional funding provided by the main organizing partners - Uppsala Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies (UCRS), the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI), the Centre for Russian, Central and East European Studies (CRCEES) of the University of Glasgow and The Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Acknowledgements and thanks are due to all of the funders and organizers, as well as to everyone who took part in an event that brought together forty-one academic and practitioner speakers and sixty-five participants in total from twenty ...
The paper argues firstly that, since there is no obvious separatist movement within Zakarpattya, ... more The paper argues firstly that, since there is no obvious separatist movement within Zakarpattya, the Ukrainian state should seek as far as possible to accommodate Hungarian identity claims within the region (and those of other smaller minority communities living within the state) as part of a normative and instrumental strategy of promoting ‘unity in diversity’. Secondly, it argues that Ukraine’s current concept of decentralization offers space to realise the non-territorial vision of cultural autonomy, provided that sufficient attention is also given to maintaining pre-existing territorially-based provisions with regard to minority language use and political representation for Hungarians at both regional and national level.
For many years, diversity management in post-Cold War Central and Eastern Europe was viewed throu... more For many years, diversity management in post-Cold War Central and Eastern Europe was viewed through the prism of the multilateral minority rights “regime” developed through the OSCE, Council of Europe and EU. With all OSCE participating states asserting the importance of the concept during the early 1990s, minority rights were initially understood as a shared political field that could transcend rival nationalisms. This field, however, encompassed widely varying and competing definitions and was created in a context of unequal power relations between West and East. Russia – never wholly embedded within this concept of normative space – has increasingly challenged the multilateral framework rhetorically and in policy practice, as part of a more general shift toward instrumentalization of minority issues by “kin-state” actors within the region. Using new data from a 2014–17 project on practices of national-cultural autonomy (NCA) within Russia, this article demonstrates how today’s Russian state – hailing its own approach to diversity management as superior to that of the West – seeks to co-opt minority NCA bodies in Russia in the service of external policy and geopolitical competition. The article assesses how minorities respond to this strategy and the implications it might hold for ethnic relations within Russia.
This article explores how the concept of minority national-cultural autonomy (NCA) has been defin... more This article explores how the concept of minority national-cultural autonomy (NCA) has been defined and practiced in contemporary Estonia, combining data from interviews and previously unanalyzed archival sources to trace debates and policymaking processes back to 1988 and ascertain: why (and for whom) NCA was adopted; the functions ascribed to NCA institutions; and the effectiveness and legitimacy of the model in the eyes of different “noncore” ethnic communities. In so doing, the article uses NCA as a fresh lens for analyzing the more general politics of post-Soviet state and nation-building in the country, situating this case within the “Quadratic Nexus” framework. Estonia’s NCA law is generally viewed as irrelevant to ongoing issues of diversity governance in the country. However, Finnish and Swedish minority autonomies have been established and, in recent years, there have been three applications to establish a Russian NCA. None have been approved, and yet some authors see them as evidence that NCA could (and should) have a role to play in bringing about a more meaningful accommodation of ethnic diversity. Having reviewed the evidence, however, the article concludes that this claim is misplaced.
This article examines transnational activism by coalitions of national minorities in Europe from ... more This article examines transnational activism by coalitions of national minorities in Europe from the early 20th century to the present, setting this within the broader ‘security versus democracy dilemma’ that continues to surround international discussions on minority rights. Specifically, we analyse two organisations – the Federal Union of European Nationalities (1949-) and the European Nationalities Congress (1925-1938) – which, while linked, have never been subject to a detailed comparison based on primary sources. In so far as comparisons do exist, they present these bodies in highly negative terms, as mere fronts for inherently particularistic nationalisms that threatens political stability, state integrity and peace. Our more in-depth analysis provides a fresh and more nuanced perspective: it shows that, in both cases, concepts of European integration and ‘unity in diversity’ have provided the motivating goals and frameworks for transnational movements advocating common rights for all minorities and seeking positive interaction with the inter-state world.
The paper argues firstly that, since there is no obvious separatist movement within Zakarpattya, ... more The paper argues firstly that, since there is no obvious separatist movement within Zakarpattya, the Ukrainian state should seek as far as possible to accommodate Hungarian identity claims within the region (and those of other smaller minority communities living within the state) as part of a normative and instrumental strategy of promoting ‘unity in diversity’. Secondly, it argues that Ukraine’s current concept of ecentralization offers space to realise the non-territorial vision of cultural autonomy, provided that sufficient attention is also given to maintaining pre-existing territorially-based provisions with regard to minority language use and political representation for Hungarians at both regional and national level.
Realising Linguistic, Cultural and Educational Rights Through Non-Territorial Autonomy, 2023
This volume assesses Non-Territorial Autonomy (NTA) in terms of its practical capacity to support... more This volume assesses Non-Territorial Autonomy (NTA) in terms of its practical capacity to support the linguistic, cultural, and educational rights of national minority groups across Europe. The fact that 2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the coming into force of the Council of Europe Framework Convention on National Minorities (FCNM) and European Charter for Regional and Minority languages (ECRML) makes this book especially timely and relevant. Its numerous detailed empirical studies, one of which uses FCNM reporting as a benchmark, give a picture of the extent (or otherwise) to which international minority rights standards are actually being realized through various NTA arrangements. In keeping with the principles laid out in these foundational documents, the contributions to this volume acknowledge that when it comes to the effective delivery of linguistic, cultural and educational rights, NTA is best regarded not as an alternative but as a complement to territorially based arrangements. This is an open access book.
This book explores a largely forgotten legacy of multicultural political thought and practice fro... more 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 State is 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.
This book explores and evaluates non-territorial autonomy (NTA), an important modality of ethnic ... more This book explores and evaluates non-territorial autonomy (NTA), an important modality of ethnic and religious diversity management. Whereas multicultural liberal democracies sincerely champion equality and individual human rights, they often have considerable difficulty in accommodating culturally diverse minority communities. In most cases, minority communities do not reside within a compact space, making any territorial representation impossible. This brings into focus modalities of NTA as a possible alternative approach. NTA takes a variety of different forms, such as consociationalism or national cultural autonomy, and also encompasses other forms of representation, such as frameworks for accommodating indigenous peoples, juridical autonomy extended to religious communities, or elements of some models of multiculturalism. Using both theoretical and empirical approaches, and also including the work of legal practitioners, the essays within this volume examine the challenges and possible solutions offered by different NTA models for the effective participation of minorities in public life, addressing issues such as the limits and/or possibilities of implementing NTA models in liberal democracies, the extent to which NTA approaches can serve the goals of European integration and the European minority protection framework, and the possible role of NTA in resolving protracted territorial conflicts.
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Papers by David Smith
https://www.europenowjournal.org/2024/06/17/transnational-minority-activism-in-europe-beyond-the-minority-safepack-initiative/
diversity’. Secondly, it argues that Ukraine’s current concept of ecentralization offers space to realise the non-territorial vision of cultural autonomy, provided that sufficient attention is also given to maintaining pre-existing territorially-based provisions with regard to minority language use and political representation for Hungarians at both
regional and national level.
https://www.europenowjournal.org/2024/06/17/transnational-minority-activism-in-europe-beyond-the-minority-safepack-initiative/
diversity’. Secondly, it argues that Ukraine’s current concept of ecentralization offers space to realise the non-territorial vision of cultural autonomy, provided that sufficient attention is also given to maintaining pre-existing territorially-based provisions with regard to minority language use and political representation for Hungarians at both
regional and national level.
This is an open access book.
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 State is 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.