National Liberation, Revolution, and Self-Determination

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Chadwick
Author(s):  
Ana Catarina Zema de Resende

Nos últimos 30 anos, a autonomia se tornou um novo paradigma na luta dos povos indígenas por descolonização. Organizações indígenas de todo o continente americano assumiram a autonomia como demanda central. No entanto, o debate em torno das demandas indígenas por autonomia tem gerado muitas polêmicas decorrentes da incompreensão sobre o que querem os movimentos indígenas quando reivindicam seu direito à autodeterminação e autonomia. Para melhor entendimento dessa questão, interessa-nos, aqui, trazer alguns elementos e conceitos que possibilitem apreciar as contribuições de três intelectuais indígenas a esse debate: Taiaiake Alfred, mohawk do Canada; Floriberto Díaz, mixe de Tlahuitoltepec eGersem Baniwa, do povo Baniwa do Alto Rio Negro e das propostas do Exército Zapatista de Libertação Nacional (EZLN). Veremos que a maneira como esses intelectuais e o EZLN vêm construindo suas ideias sobre autonomia funciona como veículo para suas críticas à imposição de controle por parte do Estado, levando esse último a perceber as inconsistências de seus próprios princípios e do tratamento que dá aos povos indígenas.Palavras-Chave: Autonomia Indígena, Pensamento Político, Autodeterminação, Movimento Indígena.Autonomía indígena en el pensamiento político de Taiaiake Alfred, Floriberto Díaz, Gersem Baniwa y en las propuestas del EZLNResumen: En los últimos 30 años, la autonomía se ha convertido en un nuevo paradigma en la lucha de los pueblos indígenas por descolonización. Organizaciones indígenas de todo el continente americano asumieron la autonomía como demanda central. Sin embargo, el debate en torno a las demandas indígenas por autonomía ha generado muchas polémicas derivadas de la incomprensión sobre lo que quieren los movimientos indígenas cuando reivindican su derecho a la autodeterminación y a la autonomía. Para entender mejor esta cuestión, nos interesa, aquí, traer algunos elementos y conceptos que posibiliten apreciar los aportes de tres intelectuales indígenas a ese debate: Taiaiake Alfred, mohawk de Canada; Floriberto Díaz, mixe de Tlahuitoltepec y Gersem Baniwa, del pueblo Baniwa del Alto Río Negro y de las propuestas del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN). Veremos que la manera como estos intelectuales y el EZLN vienen construyendo sus ideas sobre autonomía funciona como vehículo para sus críticas a la imposición de control por parte del Estado, llevando ese último a percibir las inconsistencias de sus propios principios y del trato que da a los pueblos indígenas.Palabras-clave: Autonomía Indígena, Pensamiento Político, Autodeterminación, Movimiento Indígena.Indigenous autonomy in the political thought of Taiaiake Alfred, Floriberto Díaz, Gersem Baniwa and in the EZLN proposalsAbstract: Over the last 30 years, autonomy has become a new paradigm in the struggle of indigenous peoples for decolonization. Indigenous organizations throughout the Americas assumed autonomy as a central demand. However, the debate over indigenous demands for autonomy has generated many controversies which were derived from the misunderstanding of what indigenous movements want when they claim their right to self-determination and autonomy. To better understand this question, we are interested here in bringing up some elements and concepts that make it possible to appreciate the contributions of three indigenous intellectuals to that debate: Taiaiake Alfred, mohawk from Canada; Floriberto Diaz, mixe of Tlahuitoltepec and Gersem Baniwa, from the Baniwa people of the Alto Rio Negro and of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) proposals. We will see that the way these intellectuals and the EZLN construct their ideas about autonomy functions as a vehicle for their criticism of the imposition of control by the State, leading the latter to perceive the inconsistencies of its own principles and the treatment it gives to indigenous peoples.Keywords: Indigenous Autonomy, Political Thought, Self-Determination, Indigenous Movement.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran O'Reilly ◽  
Noelle Higgins

AbstractThe 2008 conflict in South Ossetia, involving both Georgian and Russian armed forces, attracted much international attention and debate. This article seeks to analyse the international legal framework regarding the use of force which should have applied to this conflict. It will first look at the history of, and circumstances surrounding, the South Ossetian conflict, and then examine the jus ad bellum regarding wars of national liberation and aggression. The concept of intervention to protect nationals abroad will also be discussed. These legal paradigms will then be applied to the events of August 2008 in the region of South Ossetia to analyse the legality of the use of force in this conflict.


1968 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 63-83
Author(s):  
Ştefan Pascu

Both in their scholarly writings and at conferences such as those at Indiana University in 1966 and Bratislava in 1967, historians have expressed the opinion, which has been unanimously accepted, that the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian empire must be mainly ascribed to the centrifugal role of the non-German and non-Magyar nationalities in that empire. Relegated to the rank of second-class subjects of the Habsburg emperor by the privileged classes of the dominant German and Magyar nations, the Slavic and Latin nationalities enjoyed fewer political privileges than the Germans and Hungarians, suffered from discriminations that impeded the growth of their cultural potentialities, and were subjected to various economic measures that handicapped the development of their economies. Historians are also agreed that the lack of economic unity of the Dual Monarchy was another important reason for the collapse. Furthermore, the majority of specialists on Habsburg history attribute a considerable portion of the blame for the dissolution of the Habsburg realm to the nationality policies pursued by the government in the Transleithanian half of the monarchy. The repression of the non-Magyar nationalities by the privileged classes in Hungary stimulated the growth of national liberation movements among the oppressed nationalities and prompted them to intensify their struggle, first, for equal rights, then for national autonomy, and, finally, for self-determination.


1960 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-106
Author(s):  
Elliot R. Goodman

“You know,” Khrushchev characteristically proclaimed in a message to the African People's Conference meeting in Accra in December 1958, “that on the national question the Soviet Union is invariably guided by the principle of the right of nations to self-determination, and that it has always supported and still supports the struggle of peoples to obtain or strengthen their national independence and freedom.” The idea of national self-determination, fathered by political theorists like Mazzini and Wilson, is, of course, Western in origin. But in an age of nation-building in the Afro-Asian world, skillful Soviet use of this concept presents Western diplomacy with a formidable and continuing challenge in the East. The purpose of the present inquiry is to examine briefly how Soviet spokesmen have attempted to manipulate this Western idea, particularly in the great assembly halls of the UN where representatives of East and West constantly intermingle.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth Chadwick

This chapter examines the contemporary viability of self-determination and liberation conflicts in the context of the use of force and the limits placed on that force. Drawing on the parameters of restraint developed in humanitarian and human rights laws, it explores the role of force in the struggles for self-determination. The chapter begins with an assessment of the role played by coercion in the internal affairs of states, followed by a discussion on self-determination in relation to jus in bello, jus ad bellum, terrorism, and human rights. It then considers the normative and legal limits placed on force between states compared to the limits on force utilized within states between governments and non-state actors. The chapter concludes by analysing the extent to which existing rules are affected by international support for ‘legitimate’ revolutionary armed conflicts for self-determination.


Author(s):  
Bill Bowring

This chapter suggests that the right of people to self-determination is the ‘revolutionary kernel’ of post-Second World War international law, and which both reflected and energized the struggles of national liberation movements for independence from colonial empires. The USSR played a leading role in bringing about this extraordinary success against fierce resistance from the great colonial powers. In particular, the USSR, by leading the newly independent states and a sustained diplomatic effort, contributed materially to the national liberation movements of the time. This is problematic, given that the USSR, together with the territories occupied by it as a result of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, constituted the greatest extent of Russian imperial power. The chapter explores how the USSR positioned itself in these legal debates and explains the unexpected Russian contribution to the battle for international law.


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