Stateless nation
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A stateless nation is an ethnic group, religious group, linguistic group or other cohesive group which is not the majority population in any nation state. The term implies that the group "should have" such a state, and thus expresses irredentism. This is orthogonal to statelessness in the sense of an individual's complete lack of a legal nationality: members of stateless ethnic groups may be citizens/nationals of the country in which they live, or they may be denied citizenship by that country. Stateless nations are usually not represented as a nation in international sports such as FIFA, Olympics or in international communities such as the United Nations. Nations without state are classified as fourth world nations.[1]
Stateless nations either are dispersed across a number of states (for example, the Kurdish people are found in Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Armenia and Syria) or form the native population of a province within a larger state (such as the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region within the People's Republic of China). Some stateless nations historically had a state, which was absorbed by another; for example, Tibet's declaration of independence in 1913 was not recognized, and it was invaded in 1951 by the People's Republic of China which claims that Tibet is an integral part of China, while the Tibetan government-in-exile maintains that Tibet is an independent state under unlawful occupation.[2][3] Some ethnic groups were once a stateless nation that later became a nation state (for example, the nations of the Balkan such as the Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Kosovars and Macedonians were once part of a multinational state of Yugoslavia. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia many nation states were formed). The Romani people may be a special case, being distributed among numerous countries with no clear homeland; as a traditionally "nomadic" people, the Romani/Roma are a classical "stateless nation" without aspiration to sovereign territory. As not all states are nation states, there are a number of ethnic groups who live in a multinational state without being considered "stateless nations".
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Consequences of colonialism and imperialism[edit]
During the imperial and colonial era, powerful nations extended their influence outside their homeland and this resulted in many colonized nations ceasing to be self-governing and have since been described as stateless nations.[4] Some nations have been victims of "carve out" and their homeland was divided among several nations. Even today the colonial boundaries form modern national boundaries. These often differ from cultural boundaries. This results in situation where people of the same language or culture were are divided by national borders, for example New Guinea splits as West Papua (former Dutch colony) and Papua New Guinea (former British colony).[5] During decolonization, the colonial powers imposed a unified state structure irrespective of the ethnic differences and granted independence to their colonies as a multinational state. This led states with many minority ethnic groups in the successor states. Some of these minority groups have campaigned for self-determination. Because of the ethnic differences in some countries, problems such as discrimination, ethnic conflict, separatism, ethnic cleansing, genocide, forced assimilation, and partition have occurred.[6]
Nationalism and stateless nations[edit]
Most peoples have their own history, language, culture, religion and customs, but the emergence of their own national consciousness makes them into nations.[7] A nation can exist without a state, as is exemplified by the stateless nations. In a multinational state different national consciousnesses can coexist or compete: for example, in Britain both English nationalism and Scottish nationalism exist and are held together by British nationalism. Nationalism is often connected to separatism, because a nation achieves completeness through its independence.[8] Throughout history, numerous nations declared their independence, but not all succeeded in establishing a state. Even today, there are active autonomy and independence movements around the world.
Not all peoples claim themselves to be nations or aspire for a state. Some identify themselves more as part of the multinational state and believe that their interests are well represented by it. This is also associated with Pan-nationalism. (Spanish nationalism, Indian nationalism or Chinese nationalism).[9]
Claims of stateless nations[edit]
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This section does not cite any references (sources). (August 2014) |
The following is a list of stateless nations that meet these criteria:
- has no sovereign state of its own
- does not form a majority in any sovereign state
- one or more autonomist or secessionist movements are known to exist
- not recognized by any UN members as a state (see also: partially recognized state)
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See also[edit]
- Ethnic nationalism
- European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
- Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
- List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
- List of federally recognized tribes
- List of First Nations peoples
- List of unrecognized tribes in the United States
- Multinational state
- Non-FIFA international football
- Self-determination
- Sovereignty
- Stateless person
- Stateless society
- Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
References[edit]
- Keating, Michael (2001), Nations Against the State: The New Politics of Nationalism in Quebec, Catalonia and Scotland (Second ed.), Palgrave
- Levinson, David, ed. (1998), Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook, Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, ISBN 1-57356-019-7
- Minahan, James, ed. (2002), Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups Around the World, Westport: Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-31617-1
- Bodlore-Penlaez, Mikael, ed. (2011), Atlas of Stateless Nations in Europe, minority peoples in search of recognition, Ceredigion: Y Lolfa, ISBN 978-1-84771-379-7
Notes[edit]
- ^ David Newman, Boundaries, Territory and Postmodernity
- ^ Clark, Gregory, In fear of China, 1969, saying: "Tibet, although enjoying independence at certain periods of its history, had never been recognised by any single foreign power as an independent state. The closest it has ever come to such recognition was the British formula of 1943: suzerainty, combined with autonomy and the right to enter into diplomatic relations."
- ^ "The Legal Status of Tibet". Cultural Survival.
- ^ Redie Bereketeab, Self-Determination and Secession in Africa: The Post-Colonial State
- ^ Richard Devetak, Christopher W. Hughes, Routledge, 2007-12-18, The Globalization of Political Violence: Globalization's Shadow
- ^ Donald L. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict
- ^ George W. White, Nationalism and Territory: Constructing Group Identity in Southeastern Europe
- ^ James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C
- ^ Ian Adams, Political Ideology Today p.73
- ^ "Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine". Archive.tehelka.com. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
- ^ 1928 and 1930 Communist International Resolutions on the Negro Question in the United States [1928 and 1930 Communist International Resolutions on the Negro Question in the United States]
- ^ Haywood, Harry, The Struggle for the Leninist Position on the Negro Question in the United States, 1933
- ^ Gilmore, Glinda, Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950, 2008
- ^ "1981 - RWH Pamphlet - Build the Black Liberation Movement". Marxists.org. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
- ^ "Full text of "In Defense of the Right to Political Secession for the Afro-American Nation"". Archive.org. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
- ^ the kabyle people [1]
- ^ "Assessment for Lozi in Zambia". Minorities at Risk. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
- ^ UNPO: Assyria [2]
- ^ Map of stateless nations in Europe - Eurominority
- ^ Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations, James Minahan, pg. 1661
- ^ Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez (2011). Atlas of Stateless Nations in Europe : Minority People in Search of Recognition. Y Lolfa Cyf. p. 70. ISBN 1847713793.
- ^ New Challenges for Stateless Nationalist and Regionalist Parties, Eve Hepburn
- ^ Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth Century Eastern Europe: History, Data and Analysis: History, Data and Analysis, Piotr Eberhardt, Jan Owsinski, 2015
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags of stateless nations. |
- Map of European Stateless Nations, published by the advocacy group Eurominority
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities
