MINORITY POLITICS WITHIN THE EUROPE OF REGIONS

“New” Nations in “Old” Europe: Ethnogenesis and Ethnopolitical Mobilisation in the Shetland and Orkney Islands of Scotland

“New” Nations in “Old” Europe: Ethnogenesis and Ethnopolitical Mobilisation in the Shetland and Orkney Islands of Scotland
(“New” Nations in “Old” Europe: Ethnogenesis and Ethnopolitical Mobilisation in the Shetland and Orkney Islands of Scotland.)

Author(s):Britt Cartrite
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:21-35
No. of Pages:15
Summary/Abstract:As many have noted, studies of ethno-political mobilisation in Western Europe draw overwhelmingly from a relatively small universe of highly visible and mobilised ethnic groups; further on, such studies focus on ethno-political mobilisation only in recent years (typically on votes for ethnic parties in national elections), failing even to capture the emergence of such movements over time. In contrast, Miroslav Hroch (1968 [2000]) sought to articulate a framework of mobilisation to account for trajectories of mobilisation over time among some of Europe’s most mobilised groups. Cartrite (2003), building on this framework, examined all fifteen linguistically distinct groups in France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Both studies focused on linguistically distinct groups, again raising the possibility of case selection bias. Further, much of the analysis focuses on later phases of ethno-political mobilisation, particularly once interest groups and political parties emerge, although both studies clearly demonstrate the importance of early mob ilisation structures for subsequent activism. This study focuses on the dynamics underlying what might be termed “ethnogenesis”: initial efforts to articulate a distinct group identity that may facilitate subsequent ethno-political mobilisation. Focusing on the Shetland and Orkney Islands of Scotland, this study assesses the current nascent state of ethno-political mobilisation with a particular focus on the mobilisation of local dialects as a salient marker of ethnic identity. Both island groups in recent years have had activists focusing on the standardisation and teaching of the local dialects of Scots, in addition to other symbols such as flags, to “preserve and protect” the local identity. And in both cases, individuals oppose these efforts as indicative of initial efforts at nationalist agitation. This study finds that despite the lack of a distinct language and history of political activism, models of ethnopolitical mobilisation developed to explain that more advanced cases apply well to these groups.

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Minority Rights and the Dynamics of Europeanisation: Convergence in the Regional Governance of the Danish-German Border Region or What One Preaches, the Other Practises

Minority Rights and the Dynamics of Europeanisation: Convergence in the Regional Governance of the Danish-German Border Region or What One Preaches, the Other Practises
(Minority Rights and the Dynamics of Europeanisation: Convergence in the Regional Governance of the Danish-German Border Region or What One Preaches, the Other Practises.)

Author(s):H. Tove Malloy
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:37-59
No. of Pages:23
Summary/Abstract:The politics of regional governance in the Danish-German border region is breaking new grounds for the European minority rights regime. Drawing not only on their well-developed cross-cultural knowledge and natural social capital but also on years of institutionalised intercultural dialogue at various levels, the national minorities have increasingly informed an emerging regional discourse seeking economic development through crossborder institutionalisation and capacity-building (Competence Analysis 2007). When a need for new cross-border infrastructure or service projects is identified, it is often the members of the national minorities that spot the opportunities. When harmonisation of social protection regulation was identified as a major hurdle to labour commute across the border, the national minorities engaged their national heads of governments to address the issue. When the 2007-2013 INTERREG Commission was established, representatives of the national minorities were seated alongside local representatives. When public authorities and local governments meet to review cross-border projects and progress, the national minorities participate. When the Euro-region assembly meet, representatives of the national minorities take their seats as elected officials. This is by no means a ‘best case’ scenario. The national minorities have fought hard for an increased influence through their local commissions and representative offices. Their political parties have been active since the end of World War II (Kühl 2001). And there are still areas where the national minorities are excluded even though their actions complement the ongoing strategydefinition (Competence Analysis 2007). But where the early years saw the minority parties pursuing an emancipation discourse, the broader European integration discourse has seen them turn to regional development (Klatt and Kühl 1999). Thus, years of trust building have enabled a ‘marriage’ between former antagonists in the common pursuit of regional development. This is a pursuit that aims at transforming a region that is still peripheral to nation-states’ economies into a progressive and modern border region. The ultimate goal is a prosperous region that can compete in the ‘new’ regionalism of the European Union (EU) (Keating 1998). But it is a region suffering the legacy of a ‘hard’ security border, even as the Schengen co-operation was initiated in 2001 (Klatt 2006). Thus, a common identity of the people residing in the region does not exist. Biculturalism is, however, everyday life for the national minorities and a united Europe without borders; it is a natural desire, the state boundaries having separated them from their kin-states for centuries. Moreover, a certain ‘Europeanness’ has come to inform their collective identities (Competence Analysis 2007, Malloy 2009). These factors contribute to the desire of elite actors for greater European integration, and thus create a new type of minority-majority politics in the border region. This politics is informed not only by the EU’s cohesion strategy, the Regional Policy, but also by the Council of Europe’s democratisation strategy, especially the Outline Convention. EU Structural Funds played a first role in initiating the cross-border co-operation, and the establishment of a Euro-region institutionalised the partnership. But it was the Council of Europe’s normative framework on minority rights, the Framework Convention, which became, if not key, at least a major factor in ensuring national minority participation in this co-operation. There is thus reason to argue that the intersection of these integration strategies makes for a view that the democratisation narrative on minority rights converges with the Europeanisation narrative in this border region.Although neither the EU’s Regional Policy nor the Council of Europe’s Outline Convention provisions national minority rights; they nonetheless address an issue of European integration that is contingent, namely the co-operation across state boundaries that for years has separated national minorities from their kin-states. Coupled with the ongoing implementation of the normative framework on minority rights ratified by both nationstates, this paper argues that the convergence of these narratives lends itself to support a different view of the European minority rights regime, a view based not as heretofore on normative frameworks but also on the dynamics of Europeanisation. Europeanisation is seen here not in terms of outward expansion of European values but as the ex post process of entrenching European values through deepened inward integration. The paper will describe and analyse the new type of minority-majority politics in the Danish-German border region with specific focus on the actions and functions of the national minorities in relation to the border region’s development strategy. It will be argued that because this new type of minority-majority politics is rooted in minority rights and functions on the basis of the core tenets of diversity and pluralism in European values, it speaks not only to the dynamics of Europeanisation but also puts the European minority rights regime in a new light.

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Between “Independence in Europe”, a “Europe with a Hundred Flags”, and a “Europe of” or “with the Regions”. Conceptualising the Relation between Stateless Nations and European Integration in Western Europe (1945–2010)

Between “Independence in Europe”, a “Europe with a Hundred Flags”, and a “Europe of” or “with the Regions”. Conceptualising the Relation between Stateless Nations and European Integration in Western Europe (1945–2010)
(Between “Independence in Europe”, a “Europe with a Hundred Flags”, and a “Europe of” or “with the Regions”. Conceptualising the Relation between Stateless Nations and European Integration in Western Europe (1945–2010))

Author(s):Klaus-Jürgen Nagel
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence
Page Range:61-86
No. of Pages:26
Keywords:European Integration; Western Europe; stateless nations; Second World War; European Economic Community; European Union
Summary/Abstract:Representatives of stateless nations in Western Europe have usually (but not always) taken positive views on European Integration but defend different standpoints on the role of their nations in this process. My paper describes the history of conceptualising the relation between the stateless nations and the process of European integration in Western Europe since the Second World War, looking for continuities and discontinuities. The starting point is the West European Europeanist movement. Under the influence of Proudhonian federalism, the “personalist” movement provided a first understanding of a “Europe of the regions”. The second chapter deals with the development of a “Europe of a hundred flags” (Yann Fouéré), that is the development of an alternative to the European Economic Community from the standpoint of stateless nations, different from the regions and substituting the old states. During the sixties and seventies, the “revolt of the province” brought a new understanding of this relation: In the framework of a protest movement against capitalist and state-controlled European integration, the fight against “internal colonialism” provided leftist nationalist groups in some stateless nations with a (partially) new ideological framework, defending alternative concepts of European integration. These ideas afterwards linked with green “small is beautiful” ideas (Leopold Kohr) of a bottom-up process of European Integration that would be based on the regions. However, the governments of the European Regions took up a very different approach in order to achieve regional inclusion in the institutional framework of the newly founded EU. This movement in favour of a “Europe of the regions” was partially successful. However, the Maastricht and post-Maastricht institutional structure and political practice can be probably better described as a “Europe with the regions”, where stateless nations do not find the asymmetrical recognition they claim. As a reaction, concepts of a “Europe of” (autochthonous) “ethnic groups” were developed at the far right of the party system (Vlaams Blok), while some of the nationalist movements of stateless nations formulated “independence in Europe” as their new goal, and thereby returned to the idea of the nation-state, albeit in the inclusive framework of a new European Union.

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Constitutional Preferences, National Identity and Electoral Behaviour: The Three Circles of Nationalism

Constitutional Preferences, National Identity and Electoral Behaviour: The Three Circles of Nationalism
(Constitutional Preferences, National Identity and Electoral Behaviour: The Three Circles of Nationalism)

Author(s):Ivan Serrano
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:87-105
No. of Pages:19
Keywords:Catalonia; national identity; constitutional preferences; electoral behaviour;self-government; dual identities
Summary/Abstract:Based on two recent surveys conducted in 2008 and 2009, this paper analyses the relation between national identity, constitutional preferences, and electoral behaviour in Catalonia. A reasonable starting hypothesis could expect the existence of a strong relation between support to independence, feelings of exclusive identity, and vote for nationalist parties. According to this ‘congruence hypothesis’, these three particular positions could be represented as almost perfectly overlapping spheres – the three circles of nationalism. However, different studies have suggested that such a clear relation does not exist. Rather to the contrary, complex and multifaceted relations are the norm. Furthermore, in the case of Catalonia, constitutional preferences have been usually approached by a four-grade scale of self-government (‘region’, ‘autonomous community’, ‘state within a federal Spain’, and ‘independent state’), but relatively little work has addressed them in terms of support or opposition to an independence referendum. The paper will present some evidence on the relation between national identity and electoral behaviour with regard to constitutional preferences in both dimensions, the four-grade scale of self-government, and the referendum question. Based on the results of this twofold analysis, a number of issues will be discussed from the extent to which the ‘hypothesis of congruence’ is a useful tool to interpret the Catalan case to the limits of well-established contributions that emphasise the importance of the so called ‘dual identities’ in order to explain the varying levels of support to the different constitutional options. This complementary approach can contribute to understand why, far from fulfilling certain expectations of a non-conflictive accommodation within a decentralised state, the question of self-government has remained an important element in the political agenda of Catalan and Spanish politics.

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Spain: from the Autonomy Model to the Federalism. The Case of Catalonia

Spain: from the Autonomy Model to the Federalism. The Case of Catalonia
(Spain: from the Autonomy Model to the Federalism. The Case of Catalonia)

Author(s):István Szilágyi
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:107-119
No. of Pages:13
Keywords:Catalonia; Governance without Government; Westphalian-type international system;disintegration;ethnic minorities; territorial autonomy
Summary/Abstract:The 21st century is the era of globalisation, encounters of different cultures, civilisations and identities, as well as political systems and governmental forms recorded in universal models. The turbulent international system including several participants and actors is being organised and operated in the forms of networks and streams. The situation „Governance without Government” and the institutional solutions of classical regionalism are being supplemented with the multilevel governing structures of new regionalism. The Westphalian-type international system based on the absoluteness and omnipotence of state characters was transformed and disappeared. The validity of the notion „nation-state” used in the 18-19th centuries, which involved homogeneity, came to an end. Simultaneously with the integrationist tendencies and organisations of the new regionalism superseding the territorial principle, the processes of disintegration concerning the ethno-regionalism have intensified. They have led again to the establishing of multinational states in Central- Eastern Europe and in the territory of the former Soviet Union. It emerged the questions of defending ethnic minorities, and thus, the minority politics got into the limelight. The identities of different types encountering and living together in the regions of Europe have changed the classical meaning of the „holy trinity” of state, nation, and nationality. In 1992, regarding the multi-ethnical Spain, Juan José Linz pointed out that „Spain today means the state of all the Spanish; it means nation-state for the majority of the population, but for the minority, it only means state and not nation.” In Spain, the democratically ruled co-existence of state (the Spanish Monarchy), the historic nations (Basque, Gallego, Catalan, and Valencian), and the nonhistorical regions (Cantabria, Asturias, Extremadura, Madrid, Murcia, La Rioja, etc.) has been realised. All this happened in a country where 20% of the population is Catalan, 6% Basque, 2.5% Gallego, and 2% is Valenciano. It is vital that Spanish new democracy played an important part in solving a 100-year-old problem by creating an autonomy model based on 17 self-governing communities. The system carried out between 1979 and 1983 still proves to be viable. The stability does not mean motionlessness. The constitutional system in the state is constantly changing. Between 1983 and 2010, unprecedented process of decentralisation and democratisation took place in Spain. As a consequence, nowadays, the state of autonomies has the features of a federal system. The changes leading from half-federalism to federalism were accelerating from the second half of the 1990s, and in July 2006, it resulted in accepting the new autonomy status of Catalonia. The self-governing territory with the capital of Barcelona, which gained the status “sovereign nation”, came up with a real alternative of separation from Spain. The process and the changes in Spain and Catalonia led to some conclusions that were useful for the minorities struggling for autonomy in Central and Eastern Europe. The Spanish and Catalonian solution, in the name of the concept „cultural nation”, raised the question of the validity of the model for the minorities that live in multinational Central European states. The political self-governance, the territorial autonomy, the connection between keeping the national identity and using their mother tongue, and the creation and maintenance of the governmental system draw the attention to the adaptability of this type of state-building model realised in the EU. The system of the problems being very serious, it needs a comparative analysis. The replies to the indicated questions go beyond the frame of this study.

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The Protection of the Mother Tongue of National and Ethnic Minority Communities in the Republic of Croatia

The Protection of the Mother Tongue of National and Ethnic Minority Communities in the Republic of Croatia
(The Protection of the Mother Tongue of National and Ethnic Minority Communities in the Republic of Croatia)

Author(s):Goran Bandov
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:123-140
No. of Pages:18
Keywords:group identification; ethno-political conflict;Croatia;minority education;independence;
Summary/Abstract:In the academic discourse of South-East Europe, language plays the central role in protecting the cultural dimension of national identity, and further holds a strong influence over the national political identity (in terms of group identification) for members of minority groups. This discourse recognises the importance of mother tongue as the constructing element of the elites in the process of nation-building as independent subjects of international relations in South-East Europe. The non-implementation of measures that protect mother languages may be interpreted as a direct attack on the national identity of the respective minority groups and an effective incentive for the escalation of ethno-political conflict. Therefore, the execution of broad language protection mechanisms is essential in avoiding such conflict. Within the territory of the Republic of Croatia, the system of mother language protection for national and ethnic minority communities has been effectively implemented since the period beginning after the Second World War. Furthermore, these protective institutions have decidedly strengthened during the period of democratic transition and Croatia’s movement toward its independence from Yugoslavia beginning the 1990s. This process itself had a significant impact on the magnitude and structure of the protection of minority groups largely because it introduced a host of new minority groups. Prior to Croatia’s gaining independence, protections were granted to Hungarian, Italian, Czech, Slovakian, Ukrainian, and Rusyn minority groups. In the period after independence, protective measures were extended to a number of other groups, including Serbians and others within the former-Yugoslavia. Today, these protections are granted to 22 different national and ethnic groups. The system of language protection in Croatia encompasses first and foremost the right to education in the language of a national minority group and the right to use minority language before administrative and judicial bodies. These rights have been recognised and guaranteed via a series of constitutional and legal norms whose implementation has been effectively controlled by European and Croatian legal bodies. Minority education is the most effective way of implementing language protection, which functions through the following models: model A (all classes are taught in the mother language); model B (classes of social studies are taught in the mother language while natural sciences are taught in Croatian); model C (all classes are taught in Croatian with compulsory additional classes of the minority language, tradition, and culture of a national minority group).

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To Be or Not to Be (A Minority)? The Case of the Kashubians in Poland

To Be or Not to Be (A Minority)? The Case of the Kashubians in Poland
(To Be or Not to Be (A Minority)? The Case of the Kashubians in Poland)

Author(s):Michael Hornsby, Tomasz Wicherkiewicz
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Language studies, Language and Literature Studies
Page Range:141-153
No. of Pages:13
Keywords:Poland;European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages;Kashubian;territoriality
Summary/Abstract:When Poland signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages on 12 February 2009, out of the fifteen languages listed all but one were categorised as minority languages. Kashubian was (apparently) the only regional language. Of course, the original wording of the Charter, when it was first drawn up in 1992, did not specify what the difference between a minority and a regional language actually was (Woerhrling 2005: 54). Thus Poland’s ratification, while totally complying with the Charter’s original wording, is nevertheless controversial in its application of the Charter’s principles. In this paper, we aim at exploring the tensions that have been created by the implementation of the Charter in Poland. The most obvious point of friction concerns the singling out of the Kashubian to the detriment of other less widely-used languages; this will be discussed in the context of one presenter’s expert knowledge and close association with the Charter’s implementation in Poland. Less obvious, but equally important, is the identification of the conflicting language ideologies at play here. If all minority languages in Poland (apart from Kashubian) are located within the confines of a ‘language-and-identity’ ideology, then locating Kashubian within a framework of territoriality (or a ‘language-andterritory’ ideology [Myhill 1999]) is not only bound to lead to a clash of counterproductive ideologies, but it also seems anachronistic at a time in the history of Kashubian when in only three districts of the traditional Kashubian-speaking area (Mordawski 2005: 56; Nestor and Hickey 2009) it is spoken regularly by more than 50% of the population. Given these conditions, we address the question of the effectiveness of such language planning for Kashubian in the final section of our paper.

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Language Policies in Central and East European States with Hungarian Minorities: Implications for Linguistic Rights Protection of National Minorities in the EU

Language Policies in Central and East European States with Hungarian Minorities: Implications for Linguistic Rights Protection of National Minorities in the EU
(Language Policies in Central and East European States with Hungarian Minorities: Implications for Linguistic Rights Protection of National Minorities in the EU)

Author(s):László Marácz
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Language studies, Language and Literature Studies, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence
Page Range:155-183
No. of Pages:29
Keywords:peace-treaties; multilingual states; Hungarian minorities; exclusive and inclusive language policies; Europeanisation; Council of Europe
Summary/Abstract:Due to the peace-treaties of the twentieth century, Hungarian minorities live in seven different Central and East European states, including Slovakia (520,000), Ukraine (200,000), Romania (1,930,000), Serbia (400,000), Croatia (30,000), Slovenia (20,000), and Austria (5,000). In agreement with Central and East European tradition, the most important feature of ethnic identity is the mother tongue. Hence, these states are de facto multilingual states, although not all of them consider themselves de jure as such, but rather as monolingual nation-states. In the latter cases, Hungarian minorities are confronted with a ‘policy of exclusion’, that is discriminating language laws restricting the use of the Hungarian language in the official and public space. This leads to polarised, divided societies along the lines of ethno-linguistic cleavages. This paper compares exclusive and inclusive language policies in multilingual Central and Eastern European states with Hungarian minorities. We will investigate the legal system in these countries concerning the status and use of the languages of national minorities. It will be concluded that the position of the Hungarian language in the countries concerned can be classified into two groups: (1) Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Austria; (2) Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine. In the first group, the minority language has a legal status equal to the language of the majority and is included into the official domains. This is especially true for Serbia’s Vojvodina region where an official policy supporting multilingual, multicultural society is pursued. In the second group, minority languages are subordinated to the official state language, they are restricted in the official domains, and additional requirements and conditions determine their use. Hence, the second case does not match the EU’s democratic standards whereas the first case respects these standards. This grouping is interesting as all the countries involved are subject to the process of Europeanisation. All seven countries mentioned above are members of the Council of Europe (CoE), they have ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and foremost, four countries, Austria, Slovenia, Romania, and Slovakia are members of the Union. Two of these countries, Romania and Slovakia are however not in the group where democratic values and standards are satisfactory. Hence it follows that the membership of the Union is not a guarantee for the protection of the linguistic rights of national minorities. Thus, we can observe a discrepancy between the theory of the Union celebrating linguistic diversity and democratic values and the practice in the Member States. It turns out that there are no effective controlling and sanctioning mechanisms in the Union available when the linguistic rights of national minorities are violated and multilingual practice is banned from the public and official space. The state of affairs in the second group is not only violating human rights but it undermines the cohesion of the Union and affects the deepening of conflicts between the states with Hungarian minorities and the kin-state of Hungary (see Brubaker et. al. 2006, Csergő 2007). This implies that we have to reconsider the controlling and sanctioning mechanisms in the legal framework of the Union. An important step forward would be the adoption of the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention and the Language Charter as a benchmarking system by the Union, as well as the integration of these into the Union legal system. This would allow sanctions against states violating them.

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Making Sense of Ambiguity: Redefining Minority-Majority Relations in a Post-Soviet Country

Making Sense of Ambiguity: Redefining Minority-Majority Relations in a Post-Soviet Country
(Making Sense of Ambiguity: Redefining Minority-Majority Relations in a Post-Soviet Country)

Author(s):Mykola Riabchuk
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:185-207
No. of Pages:23
Keywords:Ukraine; minority-majority relations; Russophone cultural group;
Summary/Abstract:The paper examines highly complex and ambiguous minority-majority relations in the post-Soviet republic of Ukraine. This ambiguity, the paper argues, largely stems from the Soviet tradition of arbitrary ethnic classification based on a formal notion of parents’ ethnicity rather than on people’s ethnic, cultural, and linguistic self-identification. Such a formal approach makes Ukrainians a strong majority in their country and, at the same time, downgrades Russians to the status of one of many ethnic minorities such as Poles, Jews, Crimean Tatars, Hungarians, Romanians, and many others. The formal and arbitrary classification does not only completely distort the ethno-linguistic reality but it also precludes effective implementation of appropriate policies in the field. First, it ignores an obvious fact that a substantial part of Ukrainians are heavily russified and therefore, in many parts of Ukraine, it is not the Russophones but the Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians who represent a cultural and linguistic minority, which like any other minority, requires state-sponsored support and protectionism for their cultural and linguistic rights. Secondly, by the same token, it ignores that it is Russians and russified Ukrainians who, in many parts of Ukraine, make up a strong majority that barely needs any help – contrary to the socially disadvantaged and culturally marginalised Ukrainian-speaking minority. On the one hand, the Russophone cultural group feels undermined and dissatisfied by the highly arbitrary and ambiguous ‘minority’ status. On the other hand, the status relieves them from any responsibility vis-à-vis real minorities, including Ukrainophones, and strengthens their commitment to a laissez-fair cultural and linguistic policy that benefits them as the strongest players. And thirdly, the laissez-fair policy promoted by the Russian/ Russophone group as a response to the ambiguity and as a way to preserve the de facto dominance is especially harmful for small minorities in Ukraine, who can neither benefit from the symbolical status of a ‘titular nationality’ (like Ukrainians) nor rely on de facto social and cultural dominance like Russians/Russophones. The dissolution of ambiguity, the paper claims, is the only way to craft proper policies for minorities in Ukraine and harmonise tense relations between the two major groups – Ukrainians/Ukrainophones and Russians/Russophones – that do not fit in with the traditional minority/ majority paradigm.

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Territorial Autonomy of the Gagauz in the Republic of Moldova: a Case Study

Territorial Autonomy of the Gagauz in the Republic of Moldova: a Case Study
(Territorial Autonomy of the Gagauz in the Republic of Moldova: a Case Study)

Author(s):Andrei Avram
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:211-236
No. of Pages:26
Keywords:Gagauz Republic; Moldova; territorial autonomy; Transnistria;
Summary/Abstract:In December 1994, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova passed the Law on the Special Judicial Status of the Gagauz Yeri, formally ending a stand-off between the central government and the self-declared Gagauz Republic in the south of the country. The Gagauz were granted territorial autonomy covering almost the entire spectrum of domestic policy areas and were provided with a regional legislature and executive body. This peaceful solution was hailed as a “spectacular victory of reason” (Troebst 2001: 76), given the fact that the Republic of Moldova was engaged in a further conflict in the breakaway region of Transnistria. However, the effectiveness of an autonomy model primarily depends on its subsequent implementation and the consequences it has for the state as a whole (Protsyk/Rigamonti 2007:1). The aim of the present paper is to shed light on the success of Gagauz territorial autonomy by analysing its capacity to enhance Gagauz identity, as well as the extent to which it can be considered a (de-)stabilising factor for the Republic of Moldova. The first criterion appears to be relevant in the Gagauz context because the legitimacy of an ethnically-based territorial autonomy is related to the right of a national minority to pursue its own nation-building at sub-state level (Kymlicka 2001), whereas political elites in the region have been accused of being more intent on maintaining Soviet identity than promoting Gagauz nationhood (Nantoi 2009: 6). The second criterion involves examining if the territorialisation of Gagauz collective rights resulted in an increased secessionist potential. This risk has been voiced for all new democracies in Eastern Europe (Hughes/Sasse 2002: 9) and it has periodically been invoked by Moldovan analysts due to the Gagauz’ co-operation with Transnistrian authorities (Praporşcic 2008) and their demands for a federalisation of the Moldovan state (Gherasim 2010). At the same time, territorial autonomy is also viewed as having the potential of strengthening weak states with a multiethnic population (Kolstø 2001: 214) – a hypothesis that needs to be considered, especially since Gagauz experts underline the wish of their people to contribute to the unity of the country (Angheli 2009).

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Contemporary Minority Protection in Europe: Collision and Harmony between National and International Law

Contemporary Minority Protection in Europe: Collision and Harmony between National and International Law
(Contemporary Minority Protection in Europe: Collision and Harmony between National and International Law)

Author(s):Ana Pavlović
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:237-249
No. of Pages:13
Keywords:minority rights; contemporary international agreements; United Nations; Council of Europe; European Union; OSCE; globalisation; minority policies
Summary/Abstract:In the introduction of her paper, the author brings up the history of minority protection briefly recalling its most important moments. In addition, she explains what minority rights mean today and stresses on the most relevant parts of contemporary international agreements concluded under the auspices of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Union, and the OSCE. The main part of the paper is dedicated to the tension between the state and the international community, as well as how this collision is contributes to the minority question. Does the fact that the state delegates many of its responsibilities to other members of the international community, to the regions, mean that some day it will die out conceptually? The author discusses why this will probably never happen and why the state should be strong and effective. This stands for a democratic and responsible state, one that can become a suitable model for the region of Central and Eastern Europe. Globalisation is placing many challenges in front of the governments and old state theory is not enough anymore; therefore, states should reconceptualise themselves in order to survive. One of the key issues here is the necessity to transfer some of the power from the top to the middle levels, which implies different forms of selfrule and autonomy. This is precisely the issue that casts a new light on minority question, leaving us in doubt why the process is going easily in some countries while others fight strongly against it. The leading idea of this work is to point out that nowadays, in the 21st century, with numerous newly emerging demands our reflections on this issue must also change and evolve according to the present state of affairs. While the international organisations will obviously continue to seek better solutions, the primary responsibility for minority policies will remain with the state itself.

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Personal Autonomy and/or National Councils in Vojvodina

Personal Autonomy and/or National Councils in Vojvodina
(Personal Autonomy and/or National Councils in Vojvodina)

Author(s):Csaba Máté Sarnyai, Tibor Pap
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:251-276
No. of Pages:26
Keywords:global social risks; the regionalisation of the Voivodeship; National Councils
Summary/Abstract:One of the greatest political challenges of the 21st century is the local treatment of global social risks. Among these, the establishment of the possibility of legal power to enforce interests is of utmost importance. An essential element of this is the involvement of an ever-growing layer of voters into decision making. However, these days, this fell into the background because of the current and acute economic challenges. The focus of the problem seems to be shifted. The reason for this shift is to be found in the appearance of the so-called electoral democracies in the former Eastern block and in the spreading of universal suffrage. These weaknesses derive from the internal logic of the institutions that are supposed to establish democracy. From these, the most significant problem is provided by the difficulties of expressing minority interests in the currently operating parliamentary systems. The European Union set the goal to preserve the cementing force of the member states. This political effort placed on regional bases highlighted some average (NUTS 2.) solutions of the issue. These include e.g. the settling practice of British, Spanish, Belgian, and Italian ethnic and national minority challenges covering several decades back in time. For the new millennium, the problem-solving models have become more universal, globally followable, and exemplary models. After some time, they have become the basic guiding requirements of democracy for the EU applicant countries. Among others, this motivated Serbia when it wanted to provide EU-conform answers for the challenges arising from its multiethnic population structure and heterogeneous geographic structure deriving from the local forms of territorial and personal autonomies. An example for the first is the regionalisation of the Voivodeship (the so-called statute-debate) coming from below while an example for the latter is the issue of the representability of national minorities constituting separate cultural worlds (the so-called National Councils). This presentation wants to use the case of the Hungarians in Serbia to highlight the political consequences of the problem and its handling in a social-theoretical framework. We want to handle the following separately: 1. the institutions that actually came or are coming into being as a result of political compromises; 2. their reception in political discourses; 3. their politological consequences that can be derived from the normative character of the long-term perspective: the development of the partner nations from monolith national states into an equal community. In the course of our investigation, we will draw a parallel between the solutions of the above mentioned European examples and the Western Balkan efforts that can be found in a narrower environment. In our comparison, we try to present the institutional possibilities arising from the different situations of politically relevant and residuary minorities. We will also elaborate on the problem of theoretical and practical classification possibilities of minority role-taking (loyalty, protest, and leaving). Meanwhile, we keep in mind that the arising local solutions should also serve the guiding institutional elaboration of the global challenges of the 21st century.

Price: 4.50 €

Friend, Foe or Simply Indifferent? EU Conditionality in the Field of Minority Protection in the Light of the Demands of Ethnic Minority Parties

Friend, Foe or Simply Indifferent? EU Conditionality in the Field of Minority Protection in the Light of the Demands of Ethnic Minority Parties
(Friend, Foe or Simply Indifferent? EU Conditionality in the Field of Minority Protection in the Light of the Demands of Ethnic Minority Parties)

Author(s):Edina Szöcsik
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:277-301
No. of Pages:25
Keywords:EU;Central and Eastern European countries;conditionality;European Commission
Summary/Abstract:Many studies analysed whether and how the EU succeeded to induce a higher level of minority protection in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) through the conditionality of the EU membership. The prevalent opinion in the literature is that, in general, the EU conditionality was effective. However, the EU conditionality in the field of minority protection came under criticism due to its lacking EU internal foundations, its inconsistent application, and the lacking transparency of the monitoring process by the European Commission. This paper explores the EU conditionality in the field of minority protection from a new angle. The aim of this paper is to assess in a descriptive manner how the conditions in the field of minority protection of the EU are related to the demands of ethnic minority parties during the accession process. Did EU conditionality support or undermine the demands of ethnic minority parties? This question is highly relevant as ethnic minority parties provide the political representation of national minorities in many cases and are often the most important and legitimate actors pushing for higher levels of minority protection in the domestic area of the CEECs. As an example, the demands of the Hungarian minority party in Romania (UDMR) and the conditions of the EU related to the Hungarian minority are compared based on the content analysis of the most important programmatic documents of the two actors. The results show that the EU backed only the demands of the UDMR in the field of restitution and Hungarian language use but it did neither in the field of education in the Hungarian language nor related to the reform of the public administration.

Price: 4.50 €

The Szekler Autonomy Initiatives

The Szekler Autonomy Initiatives
(The Szekler Autonomy Initiatives)

Author(s):Edina-Ildikó Ţipţer
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:303-326
No. of Pages:24
Keywords:Szekler autonomy initiatives; Yash Ghai
Summary/Abstract:The aim of the present paper is to assess the feasibility of the Szekler autonomy initiatives between 1989 and 2009 based on the nine criteria of Yash Ghai. The conflict arose between the Romanian majority and a Hungarian minority group, the Szeklers, who claim back their right to territorial autonomy in order to preserve their national and cultural identity in a region where they represent the majority of the inhabitants. The conceptual framework in which the paper is embedded is represented by the autonomy concept and the nine criteria of Yash Ghai. By analysing the autonomy bills, statutes, and memoranda, I have reached to the conclusion that not all the criteria are entirely fulfilled. Consequently, my assessment is that even though the autonomy project has undergone significant progress throughout the years, that was not enough for complete success and further improvements are needed. However, with the correction of the weaknesses I specified and paying more attention to the unfulfilled criteria, the chances of success can appreciably increase.

Price: 4.50 €

Deconstructing a Region: the Banat/Bánság.

Deconstructing a Region: the Banat/Bánság.
(Deconstructing a Region: the Banat/Bánság.)

Author(s):Barna Bodó, Alpár Zoltán Szász
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:329-350
No. of Pages:22
Keywords:Banat; Habsburg Empire; colonisation policy; minorities
Summary/Abstract:The Banat/Bánság is a special region in Europe. Its modern history began in 1716 when it was conquered back from the Turks and obtained a special status as part of the Habsburg Empire. This meant that the region became part of the latter without having to adopt its system of territorial administration. The special status lasted approximately one hundred years and entailed a rather unique colonisation policy practised by the Viennese Court, which resulted in an ethnic diversity that is seemingly unparalleled on the continent. These processes and their consequences still influence the situation of the region and the life of the national minorities inhabiting it. The primary aim of our paper is to identify the factors that currently shape the regional discourses developed mainly on the basis of the historical elements presented in the previous paragraph. Needless to say: there are indeed several discourses. However, the one adopted by the Romanian majority focuses on the basic values characterising the history of the Banat/Bánság without mentioning which elements are attached to national minorities. Rallying around this discourse devoid of elements concerning minorities could call into question the future of the Banat’s minorities. The secondary aim of our paper is to provide empirical evidence for this process and analyse it.

Price: 4.50 €

The Backstage of a Success Story. Minority Protection in Lithuania

The Backstage of a Success Story. Minority Protection in Lithuania
(The Backstage of a Success Story. Minority Protection in Lithuania)

Author(s):Sebastien Gobert
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:351-366
No. of Pages:16
Keywords:minority protection;Lithuania;integration; discrimination practices;legal provisions;
Summary/Abstract:Since it declared its independence in 1990, Lithuania has been praised for the consensual integration of its national minorities. Thanks to a favourable demographic situation, the government adopted the socalled‚ ’zero-option’’, that is an inclusive citizenship law, as early as 1989. The further development of minority representative institutions and media allowed Lithuania to overcome most of the problems Estonia and Latvia had been facing. Yet, despite this formal integration, some tensions still occur among minorities, especially among the Polish community, the largest, geographically most concentrated, and most controversial ethnic group. Recurrent rows over the ‚lithuanised’ spelling of Polish names on passports and street signs, as well as regular reports on discrimination in the media have demonstrated the contradiction between a well-achieved formal integration and the persistence of prejudice and discrimination practices among the majority population against the national minorities. Furthermore, the recent introduction of an exclusive dual citizenship law, limited to a part of the ethnic Lithuanians, has highlighted a structural divide between the ‚’ethnos’’ and the ‚’demos’’ among the country’s very citizenry. This research stresses the existing lag between a successful formal integration of Lithuania’s minorities and their persisting status of ‚alien’ in the country’s public discourse. This work intends to provide some elements of understanding on why the inclusive and tolerant integration framework has not yet led to the actual inclusion of the minorities. The study focuses on the case of the Polish community. I investigate the legal provisions regarding minority integration on both domestic and international scale, as well as the different theoretical conceptions of citizenship. I examine then the most sensitive issues related to the participation of ethnic Poles in Lithuanian public life and analyse the short- and long-term consequences of their incomplete inclusion into the Lithuanian public sphere.

Price: 4.50 €

Minority Regimes at Work – Hungarian Experiences on the Interrelated Complexities of Data Protection and Minority Protection

Minority Regimes at Work – Hungarian Experiences on the Interrelated Complexities of Data Protection and Minority Protection
(Minority Regimes at Work – Hungarian Experiences on the Interrelated Complexities of Data Protection and Minority Protection)

Author(s):Balázs Majtényi, András László Pap
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence
Page Range:367-392
No. of Pages:26
Keywords:data protection; minority protection;minority rights;reverse discrimination
Summary/Abstract:Looking at the regulatory context of the Republic of Hungary, this essay proposes to examine the relationship between the protection of sensitive data and protection against violations of minority rights, on the one hand, and the free flow of ethnic data, which is required for the unimpeded provision of additional rights, on the other hand. In other words, we attempt to identify cases where a conflict between various fundamental rights may arise, as well as the circumstances in which placing restrictions on the right to the protection of personal data may be justified in the interest of making a distinction between the fundamental right associated with the prohibition of discrimination and the preferential treatment (affirmative action or reverse discrimination) of disadvantaged groups, as well as in order to uphold the constitutionally guaranteed rights of national and ethnic minorities. Such cases often harbour a conflict between even more fundamental rights than those mentioned above, but the only lawful objective of any restriction is the protection of subjective fundamental rights. In cases of preferential treatment, however, the restriction is invariably based on the consent of the subject.

Price: 4.50 €

A History of Collective Minority Rights in the European Historical Context

A History of Collective Minority Rights in the European Historical Context
(A History of Collective Minority Rights in the European Historical Context)

Author(s):Pieter Van der Plank
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Page Range:393-411
No. of Pages:19
Keywords:autonomy;Enlightenment;collective rights; Kulturkampf; Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Summary/Abstract:Autonomy was a traditional solution that state and church authorities implemented to solve the problems of ethnic diversity predominantly represented by religious denominations. Although the 17th century Ancien Régimes generally used compulsion and violence to maintain homogeneity among the objects of their sovereignty, in the run of the 18th century, this policy was no longer a guarantee for stability and control. Shifting political boundaries too often brought dissident denominations under the control of states dedicated to other (state) religions. The Age of Enlightenment would no longer accept traditional solutions of converting and expelling minorities, and granted particular privileges, in other words, collective rights, in order to control such minorities by juridical isolation. In the 19th century, collective rights were no longer acceptable in unitary democratic states. Because their citizens emancipated from objects of the sovereign to subjects of the state, they had to become individuals equal in rights and living together under the same laws. In Western Europe, a so-called Kulturkampf (culture struggle) was necessary to secure the predominance of the state over the (Roman Catholic) Church, restricting her jurisdiction. So, the national democratic concept became successful in mononational Western European states. In East-Central Europe, it could not be implemented without a severe threat to the integrity of the multinationally composed states: Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. Here, national dissident emancipation was fostered by strongholds in religious denominations and organisations. Anyway, the great powers had to cope with growing and centrifugal national separatist movements among their citizens. Each of them tried to solve this problem in different and often reactive and repressive ways, and none of them succeeded. Austria tried in vain to work out compromises between personal, collective, and territorial rights. In this respect, important contributions were made by social democrats (Renner and Bauer) with the aim to reconcile old collective and new individual rights in a territorial solution. But besides an interesting implementation of their ideas in the crown provinces of Moravia and Bucovina, an outspoken nationalism dominated the discourse in other provinces, paralysing any further debate and the development of a tolerant and liberal climate. The collapse of the multinational great powers in WW I gave way to the political reorganisation of Central Europe in some seven new nationstates founded by the Peace-Treaties of Paris on the confusing basic principle of the international law: the Peoples’ Right of Self-determination. Although this right was a collective one, giving a people sovereignty as a nation was implemented in states inhabited not only by such a nation but also by large national dissident minorities, mounting up to thirty million Central Europeans. State citizenship proved to be a weak concept in the new nation-states. They were not able, and most of them also not willing, to work out a compromise between constitutionally guaranteed individual rights of their citizen subjects and the need of collective rights by those citizens belonging to minority groups willing to maintain a social and cultural life of their own. Since then, religious as well as national provisions of minorities have deteriorated under state jurisdiction, becoming play things in the hands of politicians. In the last years before the outbreak of WW II, the Axis Powers in co-operation with the Soviet Union provoked and forced large-scale territorial annexations as a correction upon the peace-treaties, making the fear for irridenti real. Even new national (puppet) states were erected for nations who formerly had not received recognition in the peace-treaties. These territorial solutions could only solve the old minority problems by creating new ones. Ethnic cleansing was carried out to enforce national homogeneity within the new boundaries. Jewish minorities were eliminated by genocide. In German-occupied territories, German-speaking minorities were privileged by a collective status. In agreement with the state authorities of the Axis-confederates, some and in particular also these germanophone minorities got a bi-national status, and finally had to accept German nationality exclusively. These constitutional distortions discredited collective minority status as a solution. After the war, the victorious Allied Powers considered the existence of minorities to have been a war cause in the hands of the Axis Powers and their confederates, and collective minority rights still to be a source of severe international troubles for the future. They not only decided to return to the pre-war state boundaries (with the exception of the annexations by the Soviet Union) but also to accept and even guide massive national cleansing of the population within these boundaries. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights reflects this juridical reenforcement of the individual citizen, but in a new quality: as a sovereign human subject of a state. The date of the proclamation can hardly be coincidental: December 1948, just after three years of the massive and forceful replacing of some twenty million Central Europeans just because of an unwanted ethnic or national identity. Since then, in the Soviet-controlled parts of Europe, minority problems were marginalised in bureaucratic regulation. The socialist peoples’ republics implemented an ideological solution of these problems, making individual rights unnecessary and collective rights unlawful. Only one territorial experiment – the autonomous Szekler region in Romania – had a short and unhappy life. In 1990, a new era would start, giving new perspectives to minority rights within the framework of a European legislature. And, covered by this jurisdiction, national minorities should no longer be a threat to the integrity of a modern European state. Nevertheless, anachronistic reflexes still continue to define and (mis)use their existential need for collective rights as such.

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The Treatment of Minorities in Religious Perspective: the Catholic Church and the German Minority in Upper Silesia between 1922 and 2010

The Treatment of Minorities in Religious Perspective: the Catholic Church and the German Minority in Upper Silesia between 1922 and 2010
(The Treatment of Minorities in Religious Perspective: the Catholic Church and the German Minority in Upper Silesia between 1922 and 2010)

Author(s):Maik Schmerbauch
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:413-423
No. of Pages:11
Keywords:Catholic church; German Catholic minority;Upper Silesia minorities
Summary/Abstract:With the exception of my researches and investigations during the last years, there has not been any scientific or modern research on this topic in the (ecclesiastical) history, although the relationship between the Catholic Church and the German Catholic minority in the diocese of Kattowitz between 1922 and 1939 was a very interesting and important period of the twentieth century ecclesiastical history. After the defeat of the German Empire at the end of the First Word War in 1918, the German province of Upper Silesia was divided by the Völkerbund between Poland and Germany in 1922. So the eastern part of Upper Silesia, with the important industry area of Kattowitz and Königshütte, went to Poland. In this area, there had lived over one million inhabitants of Polish and German origin, although the Upper Silesian folklore has been a mixed one with German and Polish elements intermingled for centuries so that one couldn’t identify a person as expressly German or Polish. Normally, a person identified his nationality with the language he spoken and the confession to his own folklore. So, after 1922, there has been a big exodus of German Upper Silesians from this part into the German Empire while Polish people came to the new Polish Upper Silesia from all parts of this country. Finally, around 20% of German people remained in this area as a political minority in the Polish Wojewodschaft of Silesia between 1922 and 1939. This political process has caused a changing process even in the Catholic Church. Upper Silesia was a very Catholic part and in 1922 it belonged to the big German diocese of Breslau with Bishop Cardinal Bertram. After 1922, the Holy See decided to create a new diocese in the part of East-Upper Silesia that was divided from Germany. So, in 1925, the Holy Seat created the new Polish diocese of Kattowitz with its first bishop, Cardinal Hlond, who was followed by Arkadisuz Lisiecki (1926-1930) and then Stanislaus Adamski (1930-1967). For the new Polish diocese, the existence of a Catholic minority they now had to take care was a new experience in this area. For centuries, German and Polish Catholics had lived peacefully in their community, shared the churches for the services, praised together, and went together to the big pilgrim places in Upper Silesia such as Annaberg or Piekary. Because of the political change in 1922, there has developed a great mistrust between German and Polish inhabitants not only in general matters but also in the Catholic life. Consequently, the German Catholics were angry to lose their former way of life in the church they had enjoyed as German citizens. The Bishop of Kattowitz and his priests recognised this problem in their communities and tried everything to avoid political problems in the Catholic Church during the time between 1922 and 1939. For them, it was clear that regarding faith, there could not be a difference between the faith of a German and that of a Polish. The Church was the shelter without any folkloristic problems. But this matter was hard to manage. The German priests tried for several of times to avoid radicalism among the German Catholics during the period between 1922 and 1939. They provided and supported the German Catholic societies: the children, the youth, men, and women all went together to the great pilgrim places; they taught them about social and religious life and warned them not to believe in the new political systems of Nazism and communism, which tried to convince the German faithful to their ideology. With their efforts, the Catholic Church could convince the majority of the German Catholics very successfully to stay in the Church until the end of the thirties. This time, the political situation between Germany and Poland changed for the worse, and the Polish government of Upper Silesia began to persecute a lot of societies and magazines of the German minority until the beginning of World War 2 in 1939, which could not be prevented even by the Catholic Church. So, the discussion and exploration of this area of the twentieth century ecclesiastical history is expected to be a huge project with new results for the current research. I think, this project is going to give new perspectives to minority research in Catholic theology and will offer new ways how to handle as Catholics a religious community living in minority.

Price: 4.50 €

Recognition/Registration Policies towards Religious Minorities: A Comparative Legal Analysis and a Human Rights-Based Analysis

Recognition/Registration Policies towards Religious Minorities: A Comparative Legal Analysis and a Human Rights-Based Analysis
(Recognition/Registration Policies towards Religious Minorities: A Comparative Legal Analysis and a Human Rights-Based Analysis)

Author(s):Jeroen Temperman
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Page Range:425-441
No. of Pages:17
Keywords:religious minorities;Eastern European countries; state secularism; separationism; human rights law
Summary/Abstract:The issue of freedom of association is inextricably linked up with the freedoms enjoyed by organised religious groups. Focusing on Eastern European countries, this paper examines the question of what the precise legal ramifications of the norm which holds that ‘states may not discriminate between different religions and beliefs’ are in the field of registration of religions. It will be outlined that religious association laws may be used in practice to confirm and/or cover up historical financial prerogatives of the dominant and traditional religion of the state (i.e. Eastern Orthodox national churches predominantly, in most states in this region that maintain de jure or de facto ties with this religion) or to restrain the activities of religious groups (in secular states with strict interpretations of state secularism or separationism). Thus, it may be that financial support schemes are based on the prima facie neutral criteria (“all recognised/registered religions and beliefs receive funding”) but the rules for registration, in turn, are actually not. If a state’s predominant religion or church is automatically granted financial support yet other religious groups are to go through arduous procedures to reach that same level of legal recognition, the policy of allocation of financial benefits can hardly be considered ‘based on objective criteria’. The same holds true, a fortiori, if religious association laws lay out illegitimate registration criteria that non-dominant or non-traditional religious communities can simply never meet. Thus, two different issues which may both lead to discrimination against certain religions can be distinguished from each other: (i) basic recognition as a legal entity by the state (and the rights that come with this status); (ii) eligibility criteria for state funding (which is often interwoven with the issue of the status of the religious groups). On the basis of state policies towards the recognition of religious groups and, more specifically, on the basis of the terms and criteria enshrined in so-called “religious association laws”, it might happen that a religious community is denied legal entity status altogether, or a religious community might be granted this basic legal status but finds itself disadvantaged nonetheless when compared to churches or religious organisations that are granted a (higher) status making them eligible for additional benefits. The paper presents a comparative legal overview of state practice in this region so as to chart the main issues in this field. The paper will argue that registration systems as such can be reconciled with human rights law (on the basis that neither the manifestation of a religion nor the right to freedom of association is an absolute freedom). Equitable policies of recognition and registration of religions and religious organisations could in fact facilitate and accommodate religious freedoms. Having said that, state practice is that these policies are occasionally designed and implemented not with a view towards facilitating religious freedom but rather so as to tightly control the practice of religion, actively discriminate against what these governments consider dangerous ‘sects’, or privilege the traditional and predominant church. The paper will argue that the precise requirements for registration must strictly accord with the international standards on freedom of association being in conjunction with freedom of religion or belief.

Price: 4.50 €

The Historical and the Present Status of the Turkish Minority in Bulgaria

The Historical and the Present Status of the Turkish Minority in Bulgaria
(The Historical and the Present Status of the Turkish Minority in Bulgaria)

Author(s):Fahri Türk
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:443-453
No. of Pages:11
Keywords:Turkish minority; Bulgaria
Summary/Abstract:Although the Bulgarian Turks had been suppressed by the government authorities since the Independence of Bulgarian Kingdom in 1908, after the collapse of the communism they have gradually become the most influential minority in Eastern Europe. According to the 2005 census in Bulgaria, there live 7,450,000 people totally, out of which the Bulgarian Turks make up 9.4 % (700,300). Although Sofia guaranteed the cultural and religious rights of the Turks according to bilateral agreements with Ankara, it started to suppress the Turkish minority to a great extent in 1984. The Bulgarian government banned the usage of Turkish names for its citizens. So, the Turkish minority had to take Bulgarian names until 1991. It was even forbidden to speak Turkish in public places. In the end, the Bulgarian government declared that it would not recognise a Turkish minority in Bulgaria. The Turks in Bulgaria “were not” Turks but Bulgarians forced to convert into Islam by the Ottoman government. After the collapse of the communist system, the Turkish minority engaged itself in the political arena of Bulgaria. S, the Rights and Liberties Party, whose members are from the Turkish minority, gained 34 seats in the 240-seat parliament during the general elections in 2005. Afterwards, the Rights and Liberties Party took part in building a new coalition government in Sofia, where it was represented by three ministers. This engagement gave the Turkish minority the possibility to regain their rights they had lost in the wake of the assimilation policy of Todor Zhivkov. In January 1991, the Bulgarian government allowed the Turkish minority to learn Turkish in the schools where they live in majority such as in the city of Razgrad. Beside that, the National Bulgarian Radio started to broadcast Turkish programmes in 1993. The EU membership of Bulgaria gave new impulse to the Turkish minority to become aware of their cultural and other civil rights.

Price: 4.50 €

Accommodating Religious Pluralities: the Case of Greece

Accommodating Religious Pluralities: the Case of Greece
(Accommodating Religious Pluralities: the Case of Greece)

Author(s):Eleni Velivasaki
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Page Range:455-472
No. of Pages:18
Keywords:Greece;diversity;multiculturalism;Balkans;silent assimilation;exchange of populations;religious rights
Summary/Abstract:The question of how to manage diversity has been central in today’s prominent debates on multiculturalism. The region of the Balkans has demonstrated a number of techniques and policies in dealing with diversity, varying from violent wars to silent assimilation and the unique technique of exchange of populations. In the case of Greece, the recognition of broad religious rights – what at first seems as a rather compatible method to manage diversity, considering all the human rights and tolerance requirements of the modern times – has been reserved for the only officially recognised minority of the country, namely the Muslim/Turkish minority of Western Thrace. Yet, what we experience today in Greece is the paradox survival of the neo-millet system by the sustenance of pro-modern community institutions and the recognition of special religious rights for a religious minority that has been gradually nationalised. An Islamic personal law system is applicable for the members of the minority, who may take their private law disputes of inheritance and family matters to the courts of special jurisdiction, the Muftis. This paper aims to examine the institutional solution of the “neo-millet system” and evaluate any positive results achieved by the accommodation of Islamic law as a separate normative order. For this purpose, I will briefly discuss the extent and input of Islamic law within the Greek legal system as well as the religious rights awarded to the minority. Finally, I will l attempt an assessment of the Greek example: is it a legal anachronism or an applied multiculturalism, a possible model for today’s European minority policies?

Price: 4.50 €

Minorities, Minority Protection in Romania

Minorities, Minority Protection in Romania
(Minorities, Minority Protection in Romania)

Author(s):István Horváth
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences
Page Range:475-500
No. of Pages:26
Keywords:national minorities;Romania;ethnic landscape; ethnogeography
Summary/Abstract:The article is a general overview of the Romanian situation of national minorities and and a brief analysis of the post 1990 shaped minority protection system in Romania. The first two parts are analysing the Romanian ethnic landscape with a special focus on the margins of the panorama: ethnographic groups striving for official recognition as national minorities and the (still marginal) presence of the new, immigrant minorities. Figures and demographic dynamics of the recognized national minorities are presented followed by indicators on the ethno-linguistic vitality of these groups. Also a typology of Romanian minority ethnogeography is outlined too. Analysing the Romanian minority protection system the article first offers a historical overview of the last two decades ethno-political debates and trends, and in the last part of the article the major institutions of the present day Romanian minority protections system are inventoried.

Price: 4.50 €

Recommencement without Prospects

Recommencement without Prospects
(Recommencement without Prospects)

Author(s):János Kristóf Murádin
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, History, Social Sciences, Cultural history
Page Range:501-525
No. of Pages:25
Keywords:Transylvanian Museum Society;Cluj;Hungarian Academy of Sciences;
Summary/Abstract:My lecture deals with a most controversial period in the life of a Hungarian academic-scientific institute from Transylvania. The Transylvanian Museum Society (TMS) was founded in 1859, based on the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and it was the most important scientific institute for the Hungarians living in the region. Its life of ups and downs seems to reflect the destiny of the separated nation. This comparison becomes distinct most strikingly in the events of the period between 1944 and 1950, which was the period of narrow opportunities and of increasingly limited scopes for action both in the history of the TMS and the life of the Hungarians living in Transylvania. Many people have written and expressed their opinions about the TMS in many ways, but one thing is certain: the importance and defining role in the Hungarian cultural life of this scientific institution has never been disputed. This might be the reason why in 1944 the new Romanian power occupying Northern Transylvania, in the shade of the Soviet arms, aimed at making impossible, putting an end to, and winding up the leading institutional structure of the Hungarians and among them, the TMS seated in Kolozsvár. In my lecture, I am trying to present this silent and continuous battle going on behind the scenes between the scientific institution and the state. First of all, I am trying to outline the steadily regenerated TMS – a scientific institution trying to meet the political-ideological expectations of the period – in the continuously changing transition period following the war. At the same time, I will follow with stressed attention the scientific work, the bringing out of publications, creating a historic past, and organising educational and scientific series of lectures carried out within the TMS, marking the end of an era.

Price: 4.50 €

Szeklerland: the Touristic Way to Autonomy

Szeklerland: the Touristic Way to Autonomy
(Szeklerland: the Touristic Way to Autonomy)

Author(s):Benedek Nagy
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, History, Economic history
Page Range:527-547
No. of Pages:21
Keywords:Szeklerland;autonomy;Romanian majority;Szeklers;tourism;regionalisation
Summary/Abstract:The main purpose of our short article is to outline if there are other possible ways for obtaining the so much desired autonomy. The political way is already very much exploited and probably efficient, too, to a certain extent. But probably there would be a need for some other ways of communication, too, for convincing the Romanian majority about the existence and the importance of an ethnic minority such as the Hungarians in Transylvania, and within that, the Szeklers. In the first part, we try to present the current political and public life events and evolutions in our region, to demonstrate that there is a strengthening internal will to have a self-governing structure for Szeklerland and to have common projects, so to say, Szekler regional initiatives. These were absent in the 1990s, but now we can experience a rise in the number and quality of the different kind of Szekler „products”: common development projects, tourism initiatives, communication, scientific works, and so on. In the second part, we present the tourism-related communication and the symbols used for these purposes, as well. What are the regional symbols, who use them, and how much are they unified and conceptually settled? The third part should bring foreign, best-practice examples in Europe, where the local tourism and communication has contributed to the process of regionalisation not only through the gained incomes and taxes but also by the changes they have achieved with the communication and proclamation of the distinct elements of the local cultures. This way, if used with a very conspicuous manner, tourism can have – in our belief – a double positive effect: beside generating a wide range of healthy economic effects (we are not going to deal with them in this paper), it can also persuade a very opposing national majority about the importance of preserving cultural heritage, different ethnic values, and, above all, that difference does not necessarily mean segregation, or exclusion.

Price: 4.50 €

Present and Future of Higher Education in the Hungarian Language in Romania

Present and Future of Higher Education in the Hungarian Language in Romania
(Present and Future of Higher Education in the Hungarian Language in Romania)

Author(s):Márton Tonk, Tünde Székely
Language:English
Subject(s):Social Sciences, Education
Page Range:549-561
No. of Pages:13
Keywords:higher education;Hungarian language;Bologna Process
Summary/Abstract:The purpose of the study is to analyse the current problems and challenges of Hungarian language education policy in Romania in the context of the education policy of the European Union, respectively, the processes going on in the European Higher Education Area. In this sphere of thought, we briefly outline some of the consequences of the so-called “Bologna Process” regarding domestic higher education (and Hungarian minority higher education within it), after which we attempt to analyse the specific problems of Hungarian language university education. In the course of the latter inquiry, which is the larger part of our study, we intend to be mindful of both the national policy, demographic and minority aspects pertaining to the Transylvanian Hungarian minority and the higher education offer and institutional system in a qualified sense. Our analyses can obviously not ignore the “topos” of the independent Hungarian language state university either – its dilemmas and questions constitute the last thematic unit of our study.

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(Abstracts)

Contributor(s):Márton Tonk (Editor), István Horváth (Editor)
Language:English, Romanian, Hungarian
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:563-649
No. of Pages:87

Price: 4.50 €

About the Authors

About the Authors
(About the Authors)

Contributor(s):Márton Tonk (Editor), István Horváth (Editor)
Language:English
Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
Page Range:651-660
No. of Pages:10

Price: 4.50 €

MINORITY POLITICS WITHIN THE EUROPE OF REGIONS MINORITY POLITICS WITHIN THE EUROPE OF REGIONS

“New” Nations in “Old” Europe: Ethnogenesis and Ethnopolitical Mobilisation in the Shetland and Orkney Islands of Scotland

“New” Nations in “Old” Europe: Ethnogenesis and Ethnopolitical Mobilisation in the Shetland and Orkney Islands of Scotland (“New” Nations in “Old” Europe: Ethnogenesis and Ethnopolitical Mobilisation in the Shetland and Orkney Islands of Scotland.)

Minority Rights and the Dynamics of Europeanisation: Convergence in the Regional Governance of the Danish-German Border Region or What One Preaches, the Other Practises

Between “Independence in Europe”, a “Europe with a Hundred Flags”, and a “Europe of” or “with the Regions”. Conceptualising the Relation between Stateless Nations and European Integration in Western Europe (1945–2010)

Constitutional Preferences, National Identity and Electoral Behaviour: The Three Circles of Nationalism

Constitutional Preferences, National Identity and Electoral Behaviour: The Three Circles of Nationalism (Constitutional Preferences, National Identity and Electoral Behaviour: The Three Circles of Nationalism)

Spain: from the Autonomy Model to the Federalism. The Case of Catalonia

Spain: from the Autonomy Model to the Federalism. The Case of Catalonia (Spain: from the Autonomy Model to the Federalism. The Case of Catalonia)

The Protection of the Mother Tongue of National and Ethnic Minority Communities in the Republic of Croatia

The Protection of the Mother Tongue of National and Ethnic Minority Communities in the Republic of Croatia (The Protection of the Mother Tongue of National and Ethnic Minority Communities in the Republic of Croatia)

To Be or Not to Be (A Minority)? The Case of the Kashubians in Poland

To Be or Not to Be (A Minority)? The Case of the Kashubians in Poland (To Be or Not to Be (A Minority)? The Case of the Kashubians in Poland)

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Territorial Autonomy of the Gagauz in the Republic of Moldova: a Case Study (Territorial Autonomy of the Gagauz in the Republic of Moldova: a Case Study)

Contemporary Minority Protection in Europe: Collision and Harmony between National and International Law

Contemporary Minority Protection in Europe: Collision and Harmony between National and International Law (Contemporary Minority Protection in Europe: Collision and Harmony between National and International Law)

Personal Autonomy and/or National Councils in Vojvodina

Personal Autonomy and/or National Councils in Vojvodina (Personal Autonomy and/or National Councils in Vojvodina)

Friend, Foe or Simply Indifferent? EU Conditionality in the Field of Minority Protection in the Light of the Demands of Ethnic Minority Parties

Friend, Foe or Simply Indifferent? EU Conditionality in the Field of Minority Protection in the Light of the Demands of Ethnic Minority Parties (Friend, Foe or Simply Indifferent? EU Conditionality in the Field of Minority Protection in the Light of the Demands of Ethnic Minority Parties)

The Szekler Autonomy Initiatives

The Szekler Autonomy Initiatives (The Szekler Autonomy Initiatives)

Deconstructing a Region: the Banat/Bánság.

Deconstructing a Region: the Banat/Bánság. (Deconstructing a Region: the Banat/Bánság.)

The Backstage of a Success Story. Minority Protection in Lithuania

The Backstage of a Success Story. Minority Protection in Lithuania (The Backstage of a Success Story. Minority Protection in Lithuania)

Minority Regimes at Work – Hungarian Experiences on the Interrelated Complexities of Data Protection and Minority Protection

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A History of Collective Minority Rights in the European Historical Context

A History of Collective Minority Rights in the European Historical Context (A History of Collective Minority Rights in the European Historical Context)

The Treatment of Minorities in Religious Perspective: the Catholic Church and the German Minority in Upper Silesia between 1922 and 2010

The Treatment of Minorities in Religious Perspective: the Catholic Church and the German Minority in Upper Silesia between 1922 and 2010 (The Treatment of Minorities in Religious Perspective: the Catholic Church and the German Minority in Upper Silesia between 1922 and 2010)

Recognition/Registration Policies towards Religious Minorities: A Comparative Legal Analysis and a Human Rights-Based Analysis

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The Historical and the Present Status of the Turkish Minority in Bulgaria

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Accommodating Religious Pluralities: the Case of Greece

Accommodating Religious Pluralities: the Case of Greece (Accommodating Religious Pluralities: the Case of Greece)

Minorities, Minority Protection in Romania

Minorities, Minority Protection in Romania (Minorities, Minority Protection in Romania)

Recommencement without Prospects

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Szeklerland: the Touristic Way to Autonomy

Szeklerland: the Touristic Way to Autonomy (Szeklerland: the Touristic Way to Autonomy)

Present and Future of Higher Education in the Hungarian Language in Romania

Present and Future of Higher Education in the Hungarian Language in Romania (Present and Future of Higher Education in the Hungarian Language in Romania)

Abstracts

Abstracts (Abstracts)

About the Authors

About the Authors (About the Authors)

MINORITY POLITICS WITHIN THE EUROPE OF REGIONS
MINORITY POLITICS WITHIN THE EUROPE OF REGIONS

“New” Nations in “Old” Europe: Ethnogenesis and Ethnopolitical Mobilisation in the Shetland and Orkney Islands of Scotland
(“New” Nations in “Old” Europe: Ethnogenesis and Ethnopolitical Mobilisation in the Shetland and Orkney Islands of Scotland.)

Constitutional Preferences, National Identity and Electoral Behaviour: The Three Circles of Nationalism
(Constitutional Preferences, National Identity and Electoral Behaviour: The Three Circles of Nationalism)

Spain: from the Autonomy Model to the Federalism. The Case of Catalonia
(Spain: from the Autonomy Model to the Federalism. The Case of Catalonia)

The Protection of the Mother Tongue of National and Ethnic Minority Communities in the Republic of Croatia
(The Protection of the Mother Tongue of National and Ethnic Minority Communities in the Republic of Croatia)

To Be or Not to Be (A Minority)? The Case of the Kashubians in Poland
(To Be or Not to Be (A Minority)? The Case of the Kashubians in Poland)

Making Sense of Ambiguity: Redefining Minority-Majority Relations in a Post-Soviet Country
(Making Sense of Ambiguity: Redefining Minority-Majority Relations in a Post-Soviet Country)

Territorial Autonomy of the Gagauz in the Republic of Moldova: a Case Study
(Territorial Autonomy of the Gagauz in the Republic of Moldova: a Case Study)

Contemporary Minority Protection in Europe: Collision and Harmony between National and International Law
(Contemporary Minority Protection in Europe: Collision and Harmony between National and International Law)

Personal Autonomy and/or National Councils in Vojvodina
(Personal Autonomy and/or National Councils in Vojvodina)

Friend, Foe or Simply Indifferent? EU Conditionality in the Field of Minority Protection in the Light of the Demands of Ethnic Minority Parties
(Friend, Foe or Simply Indifferent? EU Conditionality in the Field of Minority Protection in the Light of the Demands of Ethnic Minority Parties)

The Szekler Autonomy Initiatives
(The Szekler Autonomy Initiatives)

Deconstructing a Region: the Banat/Bánság.
(Deconstructing a Region: the Banat/Bánság.)

The Backstage of a Success Story. Minority Protection in Lithuania
(The Backstage of a Success Story. Minority Protection in Lithuania)

Minority Regimes at Work – Hungarian Experiences on the Interrelated Complexities of Data Protection and Minority Protection
(Minority Regimes at Work – Hungarian Experiences on the Interrelated Complexities of Data Protection and Minority Protection)

A History of Collective Minority Rights in the European Historical Context
(A History of Collective Minority Rights in the European Historical Context)

The Treatment of Minorities in Religious Perspective: the Catholic Church and the German Minority in Upper Silesia between 1922 and 2010
(The Treatment of Minorities in Religious Perspective: the Catholic Church and the German Minority in Upper Silesia between 1922 and 2010)

Recognition/Registration Policies towards Religious Minorities: A Comparative Legal Analysis and a Human Rights-Based Analysis
(Recognition/Registration Policies towards Religious Minorities: A Comparative Legal Analysis and a Human Rights-Based Analysis)

The Historical and the Present Status of the Turkish Minority in Bulgaria
(The Historical and the Present Status of the Turkish Minority in Bulgaria)

Accommodating Religious Pluralities: the Case of Greece
(Accommodating Religious Pluralities: the Case of Greece)

Minorities, Minority Protection in Romania
(Minorities, Minority Protection in Romania)

Recommencement without Prospects
(Recommencement without Prospects)

Szeklerland: the Touristic Way to Autonomy
(Szeklerland: the Touristic Way to Autonomy)

Present and Future of Higher Education in the Hungarian Language in Romania
(Present and Future of Higher Education in the Hungarian Language in Romania)

Abstracts
(Abstracts)

About the Authors
(About the Authors)