Autonomy Arrangements in the World

The 2023 webinar of our Annual Webinar Series "Discussing World Autonomies" focuses on "Autonomous Island Regions, Indigenous Peoples, and Self-Determination: Insights from Greenland and New Caledonia". Maria Ackrén (Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of Greenland) and Elisabeth Alber (Senior Researcher at the Institute for Comparative Federalism, Eurac Research) discussed with Sergiu Constantin (Senior Researcher at the Institute for Minority Rights, Eurac Research) the particularities and similarities of the two case studies. You can watch here the recording of the webinar.

The 11th episode features ECMI's Senior Researcher Dr. Felix Schulte talking to Dr. Dawn Walsh about territorial autonomy as a solution to violent ethnic conflicts. Specifically, they look into the role of guarantee mechanisms and independent commissions in such arrangements. Dr. Dawn Walsh is an Assistant Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations, and Director of the Institute for British-Irish Studies at University College Dublin. She is also currently the holder of an Irish Research Council Laureate Award for her project 'Power-sharing and independent commissions in post-conflict societies'. You can watch here the recording of this episode.

This open-access volume explores current and historical struggles for autonomy within ancestral territories, experiences of self-governance in operation, and presents an overview of achievements, challenges, and threats across three decades. Case studies across Bolivia, Chile, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, and Canada provide a detailed discussion of autonomy and self-governance in development and in practice. Paying special attention to the role of Indigenous peoples’ organizations and activism in pursuing sociopolitical transformation, securing rights, and confronting multiple dynamics of dispossession, this book engages with current debates on Indigenous politics, relationships with national governments and economies, and the multicultural and plurinational state. This book will spark critical reflection on political experience and further exploration of the possibilities of the self-determination of peoples through territorial autonomies. Read more…

The aim of this open-access textbook is to introduce, for the first time, the students to a comprehensive reading offering the opportunity to learn more on different aspects and issues around the multifaceted and evolving concept of non-territorial autonomy (NTA), which is a group rights model to deal with national diversity within states. The textbook comprises thematic topics and a selection of multi-and interdisciplinary as well as comparative overviews of an emerging research field. It also demonstrates from different angles—theoretical considerations, historical background, and practical implementation—the possibilities of NTA in addressing cultural, ethnic, religious, and linguistic differences. It thereby provides non-territorial solutions to one of the key societal challenges in contemporary societies. Read more...