Separatism refers to the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial or gender separation from the larger group, often with demands for greater political
autonomy and even for full political
secession and the formation of a new
state. Depending on their political situation and views, groups may refer to their organizing as
independence,
self-determination,
partition or
decolonization movements instead of, or in addition to, automatic, separatist or secession movements. While some critics may equate separatism and
religious segregation,
racial segregation or
sexual segregation, separatists argue that separation by choice is not the same as government enforced segregation and serves useful purposes.
Motivations for separatism
Groups may have one or more motivations for separation, including:
- emotional resentment of rival communities
- protection from ethnic cleansing and genocide
- justified resistance by victims of oppression, including denigration of their language, culture or religion
- propaganda by those who hope to gain politically from intergroup conflict and hatred
- the economic and political dominance of one group that does not share power and privilege in an egalitarian fashion
- economic motivations of seeking to end economic exploitation by more powerful group or, conversely, to escape economic redistribution from a richer to a poorer group
- preservation of threatened religious, language or other cultural tradition
- destabilization from one separatist movement giving rise to others
- geopolitical power vacuum from breakup of larger states or empires
- continuing fragmentation as more and more states break up.
Governmental responses
How far separatist demands will go toward full independence, and whether groups pursue constitutional and nonviolent or armed violence, depend on a variety of economic, political and social factors, including movement leadership and the government’s response. Governments may respond in a number of ways, some of which are mutually exclusive. These may have little effect, satisfy separatist demands or even increase them.
- accede to separatist demands
- improve the circumstances of disadvantaged minorities, be they religious, linguistic, territorial, economic or political
- adopt “asymmetric federalism” where different states have different relations to the central government depending on separatist demands or considerations
- allow minorities to win in political disputes about which they feel strongly, through parliamentary voting, referendum, etc.
- settle for a confederation or a commonwealth relationship where there are only limited ties among states.
Types of separatist groups
Separatist groups practice a form of
identity politics - “political activity and theorizing founded in the shared experiences of injustice of members of certain social groups.” Such groups believe attempts at integration with dominant groups compromise their identity and ability to pursue greater self-determination. However, economic and political factors usually are critical in creating strong separatist movements from less active identity movements.
See more complete lists of historical and active autonomist and secessionist movements, as well as a list of unrecognized countries.
Religious
Religious groups and sects believe they should interact primarily with co-religionists.
Ethnic
Ethnic separatism is based more on cultural and linguistic differences than religious or
racial differences, which also may exist. Notable ethnic separatist movements include:
- the Kurdish people whose lands and peoples were divided between Turkey, Syria, Iraq after World War I. Also the Kurdish region in Iran.
- Spain’s Basque, Catalan and Galician separatists.
- France's Basque, Catalan, Corsican and Breton separatists,
- the Soviet Union’s dissolution into its original ethnic groupings which formed their own nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
- Czechoslovakia’s split into ethnic Czech and Slovakian republics in 1993.
- the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia dissolution into ethnic (and religious) based Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo.
- Belgium granting Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia greater autonomy.
- Switzerland’s division into cantons along geographical, religious and linguistic lines.
- French-speaking Quebec debating and voting on separation from Canada over several decades.
- Africa’s hundreds of ethnic groups are subsumed into 53 nation states, often leading to ethnic conflict and separatism, including in Angola, Algeria, Burundi, Congo and The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
- the Nigerian civil war (also known as the Biafran war) during the 1960s among Igbos, Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba; today’s ethnic and oil-related conflict in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
- conflicts in Liberia between African-Liberians and Americo-Liberians, Africans who immigrated from the Americas after being freed from slavery.
- conflicts between Zulus and Xhosa in South Africa during and after apartheid.
- Boere-Afrikaner separatists.
- the 1994 Hutu campaign of genocide against minority Tutsis in Rwanda.
- Indian and Pakistani ethnic and linguistic groups seeking greater autonomy.
- China’s Han majority dominance, including immigration into previously independent Tibet, Xinjiang or Uygur regions leading to renewed separatist efforts in those regions.
- Yugoslavia's ethnic Albanian minority separatism in Kosovo.
- Alemannic Separatism
- Separatism in Silesia
- South Ossetia separatism in Georgia.
- Rio Grande do Sul's separatism in Brazil
Racial
Some groups seek to separate from others along
racialist lines. They oppose
inter-marriage with other races and seek separate schools, businesses, churches and other institutions or even separate societies, territories and governments.
- Black separatism (or black nationalism) is a reaction to slavery in the United states and has been advanced by black leaders like Marcus Garvey and the Nation of Islam. Critical race theorists like New York University's Derrick Bell and University of Colorado's Richard Delgado argue the American legal, education and political party systems are rife with racism. They support efforts like all-black schools and dorms and question the efficacy of government-enforced integration. In 2008 statements by Barack Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright, Jr. revived the issue of the current relevance of black separatism.
- Latino separatism, as embodied in the Chicano Movement (or Chicano nation) in the United States sought to recreate Aztlán, the mythical homeland of the Aztecs comprising the Southwestern United States which is home to the majority of Mexican Americans. They drew on the Latin American concepts of racial identity such as the bronze race and La Raza Cósmica. Today a small Raza Unida Party continues with similar goals. The Mexica Movement calls for an ouster of all white Anglo and European Americans from North America.
- White separatism in the United States and Western Europe seeks separation and survival of the white race and limits to immigration by non-whites. Most separatists now reject any ideology of white supremacy, though most still are demonized by advocacy groups.
- Native American separatism is advocated by some members of the Canadian First Nations, American Indian Movement, Republic of Lakotah (Lakota Sioux people in South Dakota), the Navajo or "Na-Dene" Nationalists in Arizona, tribal groups in Eastern Oklahoma.
- Other political groups and social organizations promoted many kinds of ethnic, religious and cultural separatism in the Jewish-, Muslim- and Asian-American communities, such as the Black Muslims, the Jewish Defense League and east Asian gangs on the West Coast.
Gender
Separatist feminism is women’s choosing to separate from male-defined, male-dominated institutions, relationships, roles and activities.
Lesbian separatism advocates
lesbianism as the logical result of feminism. Some separatist feminists and lesbian separatists have chosen to live apart in
intentional community,
cooperatives and on
land trusts.
References
See also
External links
- Graham K. Brown, “Horizontal Inequalities, Ethnic Separatism and Violent Conflict: The Case of Aceh, Indonesia”, United Nations Human Development Report 2005 (PDF).
- Anthony Cordesman, “Pandora’s Box: Iraqi Federalism, Separatism, “Hard” Partitioning, and US Policy”, Working Draft, Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 9, 2007 (PDF).
- James Millard, “Violent Separatism in Xinjiang: A Critical Assessment”, East-West Center
, 2004 (PDF). - Ryan Griffiths, "Globalization, Development and Separatism: The Influence of External and Internal Economic Factors on the Strategy of Separatism" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the ISA's 49th AAnnual Convention, Bridging Multiple Divides, Hilton San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA, Mar 26, 2008 (PDF).
- Pascal Boniface, “Ideals or Interest: 'Pandora’s box’", Le Monde Diplomatique, January 1999.
