04/3/13

Russians, Ukrainians and Tatars: a 2011 survey on the identity of Crimeans

I am starting to discover a set of very interesting video lectures from the University of Kansas Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES). For all those of you who would like to learn a little bit more about such places as Kosovo, Central Asia, Poland, the Baltic Republics and so on, I am quite sure that you will find something that catches your attention if you go through the files that the people at CREES have uploaded to their Youtube channel.

As an example, one of the most recent available videos contains a lecture by Austin Charron on the issue of identity in Crimea. I have embedded the full video here -and I strongly recommend you to watch it, especially from minute 17 onwards- since it contains an original piece of work by Charron himself: a 2011 survey of almost 800 Crimeans (including Russians, Russian-speaking Ukrainians, Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians and Tatars) about their identities and their political attitudes towards what Crimea’s political status should be. As an appetiser of the survey’s results, I will tell you that:

  • The sense of attachment to Crimea is highly remarkable among all ethnic groups, so there is a strong regional identity that coexists with national identities.
  • Ethnic Russians give importance to a Russian-Soviet-Russian narrative on Crimea.
  • All ethnic groups want Crimea to remain an autonomous republic, but
    • Almost half of ethnic Russians would like Crimea to join Russia as an autonomous republic.
    • Remaining as an autonomous republic within Ukraine is more popular among ethnic Russians than joining Russia as a province.
    • One third of Tatars would like Crimea to become an independent state.

More details inside. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SweucAtbbw0

03/7/13

Federalism, islamism and unitarism: Libyan identity and nation building at the crossroads

libya-provincesPessimism. Maybe of moderate intensity, but still pessimism. This is the feeling that I got a couple of weeks ago after attending a speech on Libya by political scientist Moncef Djaziri (Institute for Political and International Studies, University of Lausanne) at Barcelona’s European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed). My pessimism was not drawn from what he said about the Libyan national identity, but because prospects for women there seem to be rather complicated. Because some progress achieved during Gaddafi era in relation to women’s rights are being lost. And because Djaziri understands that the most likely scenario is “an Islamic state” for Libya, a scenario that is “continuously enhanced” given that Islamists “are very well organized”.

I would say that Djaziri is not much satisfied with that prospect. From what he said, it seems that he would prefer another hypothesis for Liby’as future, what he calls “the republican state”. According to him, “there is not much chance” for this possibility to see the light of day, even if it has some level of support in Tripolitania, the region that was Gaddafi’s centre of power. Vested with large powers, a president “who embodied national identity” could be one of new Libya’s most powerful symbols. But, the professor recalls, this is not what Islamists want. They rather prefer a parliamentary system, “more coherent” with their political preferences.

Continue reading →

02/12/13

Beyond land and race? Defining a decentralised and multi-ethnic Zimbabwe in a new Constitution

flag-zimbabweIs it possible to make a shift from a centralised to a truly multi-ethnic and decentralised understanding of the Zimbabwean nation? The African country seems ready to explore a new national path after a new Constitution has been drafted by the Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC). The final version of the text was adopted in January 31st, and the date of a referendum on its ratification is expected for 2013.

The new Constitution is supported by the two largest parties in Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC. If finally adopted, the text could mark a milestone in Zimbabwe’s history, since for the first time ever presidential powers will be somewhat limited. It also opens the door to the establishment of a decentralised state, including the devolution of legislative and executive powers to provincial and metropolitan councils. As usual in other African states, a “cultural” and “customary” role will be given to traditional leaders. Continue reading →

01/22/13

Sovereignty equals independence? Recent declarations show a variety of outcomes

The Parliament of Catalonia (right image) is likely to pass tomorrow a declaration on the sovereignty of the Catalan people. This will be a milestone text in the history of the country, given that for the first time since autonomy was restored, Catalonia could be defined as a “sovereign political and legal subject”, if the proposal by three parties CiU, ERC and ICV is taken forward.

A declaration of sovereignty does not necessarily mean that independence is going to follow suit. Sometimes it is used as a preliminary legal text where the reasons for self-determination are put forward, and later on (maybe years) a declaration on independence follows. On other occasions, the process does not lead to the establishment of an independent state, but to a new agreement between the self-declared sovereign territory and the state. Continue reading →

01/7/13

Regional identities: Istrians, Vojvodinians and Northern Irish growing in censuses

Are certain regional identities (for a terminological clarification on this, please refer to what I explain at the bottom of this post*) posed to become the dominant ones within their regions in Europe, pushing national identities into the background? Maybe it is too soon to definitely answer this question, but census results released by the end of 2012 have shown that several regional senses of belonging are indeed cementing themselves as a strong option for the citizens in their territories and that, in some cases, they are starting to challenge the centuries long dominance of national identities there (or are even becoming one of them, as could finally be the case in Northern Ireland).

Perhaps one of the most remarkable data contained in the Northern Ireland 2011 census is the fact that for the first time it has clearly shown that the links “Protestant=British” and “Catholic=Irish” are not accurate. Continue reading →

12/13/12

The Constitution of Egypt: never forgetting Arab nationalism, always forgetting other peoples

Egypt is a state that is part of the Arab nation. No traces of other non-Arab peoples are worth to be mentioned. These are two principles contained in the draft Constitution that is about to be voted in Egypt, and that is being contested by laicist and leftist sectors of the Egyptian society. In fact, none of both principles comes as a surprise: the official declaration of Egypt as a piece of the Arab nation already guided the provisional 2011 Constitution, the 1971 Constitution under Anwar El Sadat and, of course, the previous 1956-1971 constitutions under Gamal Abdel Nasser. Continue reading →

12/4/12

The great winding border: curious land swap proposals between Israel and Palestine

I read today that many Middle East analysts are very scared because of Israeli plans to build a new settlement in the area known as E-1. They argue that such a new colony would once and for all bury the prospect of any geographically viable Palestinian state since it would break the connection between the north and the south of the West Bank, at least in its central section, where most transport connections go through.

Personally, I think that any nation should have a viable and geographically logical territory where it can develop itself. But history and peace deals show us that strange borders are sometimes used to put an end to a bloody conflict, or even to allow a colonial power to leave its former colonies. The border between the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is an example of the former; the separation between India and non-contiguous Pakistan, an example of the latter. In Bosnia the solution clearly has not worked, and in Pakistan it led to the partition of the country and the subsequent independence of Bangladesh.

In the case of Palestine and Israel, drawing weird borders is also a solution that some analysts have thought as being the best (or the least bad) option for a lasting peace. Most of these proposals will simply remain a curiosity since they will never be implemented on the ground. Still, I found it interesting to recall some ideas contained on them: Continue reading →

12/3/12

Catalan political party system: heading towards fullness?

The Catalan election of November 25th has triggered a cascade of reactions and analysis. I believe, however, that not enough attention has been put on the fact that the Catalan political party system has become more diverse and comprehensive than ever since the end of the Francoist dictatorship. If it is true that “the political nation is clearly different from the nation-state when it has its own party system” (Caminal, Miquel. Nacionalisme i partits nacionals a Catalunya. Barcelona, Empúries, 2010), then one of the most relevant outcomes of the election has been the strengthening of the Catalan political nation if analyzed from the point of view of political parties. Some thoughts on this: Continue reading →

11/21/12

Split independence: a trendy option among stateless nations?

As regards to the territorial scope of their nation, Catalan nationalists are usually divided into two main streams: one (I would say the majority one) advocates for the self-government and, eventually, independence for the current autonomous community of Catalonia only (red in the map); the other one wants an independent state made up of the whole Catalan Countries (different shades of grey in the map), which are perceived by this trend as being one single nation. Continue reading →

11/18/12

The old Albanian dream is much alive in Tirana and Pristina one century later

“Patriotic frenzy has gripped Pristina”, writes Nerimane Kamberi on Le Courrier des Balkans. However, it is not a frenzy for the Kosovar state, whose flag “has been put aside”, but a frenzy for the Albanian nation: “In the streets of Pristina, the red [flag] is increasingly imposing itself” as the date of Albanian Independence Day approaches. “One could think that Pristina wants to compete with Tirana for the big Holiday”, she writes, and there is a big reason for this: the 100th anniversary of the independence of Albania is celebrated in 2012. As a sovereign state, Albania was born indeed in 1912, but the idea of a country for the Shqiptärët had been already put forward by the League of Prizren in the 1870s. Theirs was a maximalist proposal (see map) that included far more territories than those awarded to Albania in 1913 at the treaties of London and Bucharest. Are today Albanians closer to the goal of Prizren? Continue reading →