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The 2005 debate around the French colonial past can be turned into an object of sociological enquiry, provided one is keeping at bay the hypothesis of the "pied-noir conspiracy" to focus on the daily workings of parliamentarian politics. Taking the November 2005 debates as a documentary starting point, one can analyse the way in which the "colonial debate" became entangled with the larger ideological battle around the issue of the "republican integration" of the "immigration youths," under the influence of some new militant groups like Les Indigenes de la Republique. Adapted from the source document.

Nigeria is bedeviled by myriad problems which, despite its oil riches, inhibit its development and even threaten its continued existence as a sovereign state. The author examines Nigeria's socio-political and economic circumstances and concludes that many of its problems stem from its origin as an artificial colonial construct which lumped together a variety of separate peoples. Fragmentation is seen as a distinct possibility unless its citizens can be induced to accept a new sense of Nigerian identity, involving a commitment to the survival of the present state as a cohesive entity. This would necessitate a number of radical changes, not only in the political and economic structure of the country but also in the psychology of the people. Adapted from the source document.

This paper analyzes the relationship of war, migration and factionalism among the Itza Maya, since the end of the classic period until 1712. The internal problems amongst the Itza "parcialidades" derived in the abandonment of their cities and their migration to other places. During the colonial period, the Itza kingdom established relationships of alignment and conflict with the Maya fugitive towns like Tipu. With other Maya people as were the Manche Chol, Lacandon and Petenacte, the Itza were in constant confrontation and war. These battles were conducted to control the Itza borderlands, to obtain valuable resources such as salt, cacao, vanilla, achiote and to take sacrificial victims for their gods. Finally this paper emphasizes the role of resistance and warfare that the Itza Maya implemented against the Spanish invaders, which in 1697 took control over their city. The Itza Maya had to develop new warfare tactics to avoid direct confrontation with the Spaniards. These strategies have been poorly analyzed until now. Adapted from the source document.

This article examines the place of public philanthropy in enhancing the role of the Indian merchant in Bombay, India, during the first half of the 19th century. It supplements works that have stressed the indigenous elite's attempts to contest and negotiate a significant place within the public culture of colonial India. Specifically, it emphasizes the opportunities and difficulties associated with Indian attempts to shape a colonial civic culture conducive to Indian requirements, by example of the establishment of the Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Hospital in Bombay.

In this article, the author aims at supporting a deliberative conception of secession & at justifying it against other rival theories. In the absence of clear & rigorous legal regulations of more & more numerous cases of secession going beyond the situations of colonial domination already covered by the international law, the question arises as to whether other means for their pacific solution are available. The author contends that deliberative democracy could provide such a means & examines in what conditions & within what limits this could be achieved. References. Adapted from the source document.