Suchergebnisse

Proposal to link candidates from different races in constituency "teams."

Withthe demise of the Soviet Union and the fall of many authoritarian régimes, some observers suggest that we are in the midst of what can be called a worldwide democratic revolution. Although questions remain as to the durability of these changes, particularly in Africa, it is clear that we are at a cross-roads. Nations are considering what kinds of political institutions they want to replace those they are trying to dismantle. What, at this historical moment, is the special appeal of democracy in the non-Western world? Is it the promise of individual freedom? or popular elections designed to give all citizens a say in who governs? or the prospect of guaranteed individual and group rights?

1. The denunciation of ethnicity -- 2. Nationalism and its discontents -- 3. Liberalism and multiculturalism -- 4. Language, identity, rights and representation -- 5. Language, education and minority rights -- 6. Monolingualism, mobility and the pre-eminence of English -- 7. The rise of regionalism : reinstating minority languages -- 8. Indigenous rights : self-determination, language and education -- 9. Reimagining the nation-state.

Minority rights conditionality has been seen by scholars as a key part of the EU enlargement process. While the focus on minority rights has largely been discussed in terms of democracy and even human rights, this article argues that conditionality was a result of the securitization of minorities rather than part of an agenda to protect or empower. In this article, we look at the methods of desecuritization as factors of 'narratives, norms and nannies'. In response to Paul Roe's conclusions about the impossibility of desecuritizing societal security, we examine whether the EU, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe have the ability to change the societal dynamics among ethnic groups in such a way as to make the desecuritization of societal security more likely. Overall, we illustrate how a focus on 'deconstructivist' and 'constructivist' approaches to societal security has failed to make European organizations important transformative actors in interethnic relations.

Abstract.The 1990s debate on minority rights clearly indicates that minority issues are among the most controversial subjects of international relations. Questions concerning national minorities gained new prominence in international relations, especially in East Central Europe, following the end of the Cold War. Between 1990 and 1995 the formulation of international standards regulating state conduct towards national minorities was a priority for European organisations. This standard setting episode raises several important questions. Why did national minorities reappear on the international agenda after 1989? How were they responded to? Why did state sovereignty continue to take precedence over minority rights?