Bridging Regionalism and Secessionism: Territorial Autonomy Movements in the Iberian World

In comparative works on nationalism, Latin America is usually portrayed as a world region that is devoid of nationalist and separatist movements, while in Europe nationalist movements seeking greater self-determination or separate statehood can be easily observed. This article takes a different perspective. Applying the concept of territorial autonomy movements, it pursues a cross-regional comparison of Santa Cruz in Bolivia, Guayas in Ecuador, and Catalonia in Spain to show that movements strikingly similar with regards to their core claims, diagnostic frames, and tactics do in fact exist across the Iberian world. The chapter then draws on social movement theory to account for the recent intensification of territorial autonomy mobilizations in these cases. We argue that in all three substate units (1) threats of political exclusion emanating from contestations over established power-sharing arrangements triggered territorial grievances; (2) the formation of dense associational networks and new alliances with subnational party and state representatives enhanced the organizational resources of territorial challengers; and (3) broader protest cycles, and their concern with direct democracy and/or multicultural group rights, provided territorial challengers with new framing strategies to justify their demands.

Urban Food Autonomy: The Flourishing of an Ethics of Care for Sustainability

Urban agriculture is often advanced as a sustainable solution to feed a growing urban population, offering a number of benefits: improved fresh food access, CO2 absorption, social justice and social cohesion among others. Going beyond these direct tangible/objective benefits from urban agriculture, in this paper we ask: How can growing food in the cities teach us about taking care of each other and the natural environment? We use the example of urban food autonomy movements to discuss the transformative potential of a grassroots-led initiative promoting permaculture, which is anchored in three “ethics”: care for the earth, care for the people, and fair share. Through examining the philosophical underpinnings of “autonomy” and “care”, we explore how urban food autonomy initiatives can enable the development of an ethics of care, especially using permaculture inspirations. Our theoretical review and case analysis reveal that “autonomy” can never be achieved without “care” and that these are co-dependent outcomes. The urban food autonomy initiatives are directly relevant for the achievement of the three of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals: “Zero Hunger,” “Life on Land” and “Climate Action”, and contribute to a culture of care. Indeed, urban agriculture can act as a powerful education platform for the engagement of diverse stakeholders while also supporting a collective transformation of values.

Autonomiebewegungen im Spiegel der Globalisierung

This research is an important contribution to the discussion about the influence of globalization processes on autonomy movements, since it shows the connection between autonomy efforts in South Tyrol, Flanders and Quebec and the influence of globalization processes on the respective states. On the three levels international, national and regional, the author shows how a new globalization conflict arises between proponents and opponents of globalization, which can affect domestic processes. This phenomenon is reflected in the rise of the various populist parties on both sides of the spectrum and the withdrawal into the national or regional level. With a view to regions with an autonomous movement, regional homogeneity and identity in contrast to the state are growing at the same time. If those regions show additionally a kind of quasi-state-configuration, globalization processes lead to increasing autonomy-movements or even to secession.

Migration, Ethnicity-based Movements and State’s Response

Following reclamation of Assamese ethnic identity, the movements for making Assam a nation province started in the 1960s. The caveat, however, was the ever-growing Bengali migrants from Bangladesh. The Assamese movement, bolstered by the exclusivity and dominance, caused resentment from the non-Assamese communities and this ostracism was manifested in the form of counter movements. After restoring normalcy for a few years, armed movement for secession kicked-off in the early 1980s and intensified in the 1990s. Unfortunately, State’s intervention failed to contain protracted conflicts, rather compounded the situation and gave rise to hybrid ethnic identities in the 2000s. This further led to demands for ethnicity-based autonomy movements.

Understanding ethnicity-based autonomy movements in India's northeastern region

Soon after independence, India's northeastern region was swamped in a series of conflicts starting with the Naga secessionist movement in the 1950s, followed by others in the 1960s. The conflicts intensified and engulfed the entire region in the 1970s and 1980s. However, in the 1990s, following reclamation of ethnic identities amid gnawing scarcities, the conflicts slowly turned into internal feuds. Consequently, alliance and re-alliance among the ethnic groups transpired. In the 2000s, it finally led to the balkanization of ethnicity-based autonomy movements in the region. Unfortunately, the state's ad-hoc measures failed to contain protected conflicts and, instead, compounded the situation and swelled hybrid ethnic identities.

Globalization, Governance, and the Emergence of Indigenous Autonomy Movements in Latin America: The Case of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua

A revisiting of Salvador Martí i Puig’s approach to globalization and the turn toward governance in explaining the roots and impact of the political mobilization of Latin America’s indigenous peoples since the 1990s recasts governance as a disciplinary regime that in the case of Nicaragua co-opted potentially radical oppositional movements into the neoliberal project that accompanied Latin America’s democratic transition. The discussion takes as its empirical case the autonomy process on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, which in its twenty-fifth year represents the most sustained devolution of power to indigenous peoples in Latin America. Una revisión de los estudios de Salvador Martí i de Puig sobre la globalización y el giro hacia la gobernanza como manera de explicar las raíces y el impacto de la movilización política de los pueblos indígenas de América Latina desde la década de 1990 reformula la gobernanza como un régimen disciplinario que, en el caso de Nicaragua, cooptó movimientos potencialmente radicales, convirtiéndolos en parte del proyecto neoliberal que se llevó a cabo a la par de la transición democrática de América Latina. Nuestra discusión se centra en un caso empírico: el proceso de autonomía en la costa caribeña nicaragüense. En su vigésimo quinto año, dicho proceso constituye la devolución de autonomía indígena más sostenida en América Latina.

Understanding Ethnicity-based Autonomy Movements: A Study of Manipur

Since the 1960s, Manipur has been plagued by Meitei secessionist movements demanding/striving for independence from India. However, in the 1990s, following the upsurge of Naga ethnicity-based autonomy movement within the state and its counter movements by other groups, the secessionist movement was embroiled in internal feuds. In this process, grouping and regrouping of tribal communities had taken place, impinged by the predatory elites for their political and economic interests. Unfortunately, the state’s interventions failed to contain protracted conflicts; they rather compounded the situation, gave rise to hybrid ethnic identities and led to the recurrence of demands for internal autonomy.