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11. The Ethics of Kin State Activism: A Cosmopolitan Defense

Author:
George Vasilev
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
A notable feature of nationalism’s contemporary resurgence is the increasing eagerness that governments have shown to support and shape the political causes of populations living abroad whom they conceive of as ethnic kindred. Governments engaged in such “kin state activism” assume a natural entitlement to speak for and assert authority over minorities and diasporas in other states, invoking a belief in common territorial, cultural, and even biological origins as a moral basis for that entitlement. A striking example of the trend is the Russian government’s declaration that it will defend the interests of ethnic Russians wherever they may be and regardless of their citizenship.1 The government has made good on this intention since 2014 through the invasion of Crimea and through support for pro-Russia secessionist fighters in eastern Ukraine. Russian officials have also made thinly veiled threats to apply the doctrine in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, where large Russian-speaking minorities reside and maintain strained relations with authorities.2 Kin state activism has also become increasingly apparent in other contexts, even though it has not involved the military coercion and flagrant disregard for international law characterizing Russia’s interventions. Examples that have made headlines recently include Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz (Federation of Young Democrats) party’s cross-border political collaborations with Romania’s Hungarians,3 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s appeal to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to take action against the discrimination of Greece’s predominantly ethnic Turkish Muslims,4 and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović’s lobbying for electoral reform in Bosnia so that ethnic Croats there can gain increased representation.5 These and other examples typify a trend in which governments are more stridently assuming a right to protect, counsel, represent, politically organize, indoctrinate, naturalize, financially support, advocate for, and even govern populations beyond state jurisdictions on the basis of an ethnic conception of shared identity.
Topic:
Nationalism, Minorities, Citizenship, and Ethnicity
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Croatia

12. Staging Hallyu: K-Pop and K-Drama Reimagined in Asian American Theater

Author:
Jieun Lee
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
In the midst of a worldwide fascination with Hallyu, South Korea’s cultural products, the popularity of K-pop and K-drama has soared to unprecedented levels. In New York City, Korean American playwright Jason Kim’s Off-Broadway musical KPOP (2017) brought K-pop music and dance to the stage. In the Twin Cities, a Hmong American playwright May Lee-Yang set her play, The Korean Drama Addict’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity (2018), within her Hmong ethnic background, as a romantic satire and homage to K-drama. While both plays function superbly as theatrical entertainment, I argue that these works serve as critical investigations into the methods of creating and disseminating K-pop and K-drama. Both theater pieces bring up issues of racial, gender, sexual, national, and ethnic identities as they reimagine Hallyu in North America and assess its impact on Asian America.
Topic:
Culture, Ethnicity, Identities, Music, popular culture, and Theater
Political Geography:
Asia, South Korea, and United States of America

13. The Election in Karnataka: Caste, Class, and Regional Complexity

Author:
Pranav Kuttaiah and Neelanjan Sircar
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Pranav Kuttaiah and Neelanjan Sircar discuss the complexities of the Karnataka election before vote counting the following day.
Topic:
Government, Elections, Ethnicity, Class, and Caste
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, Asia, and Karnataka

14. The Legal Regime and Political Economy of Land Rights Of Scheduled Tribes in the Scheduled Areas of India

Author:
Namita Wahi and Ankit Bhatia
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Context: India holds the unique distinction of being both the world's largest constitutional democracy and also one of its fastest growing economies. Critical to the process of India's economic development is state acquisition of land for infrastructure and industrial development. Creating a legal framework that ensures equitable and efficient acquisition of land by the state, through processes that are socially inclusive and politically feasible, has proved challenging. While the Indian Constitution guarantees property rights to all, it enshrines special protections for land rights of ‘Scheduled Tribes’, vis-a-vis the state and other communities, in geographically demarcated tribal majority areas known as ‘Scheduled Areas’ under the Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Constitution. The currently designated Fifth Scheduled areas are in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Rajasthan. The currently designated Sixth Schedule areas are in the north-eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. The Scheduled Tribes (STs) or adivasis consist of a number of heterogeneous tribal groups that have historically self-identified and been identified by the British colonial and independent Indian states, as lying outside the mainstream of Hindu society, partly because of their ’distinctive culture and way of life as a group’, and partly because of their ‘geographical isolation’. Currently, there are 750 tribes in 26 states and 6 union territories of India. The Constitution guarantees special protections for land rights of Scheduled Tribes in Scheduled areas because land is not only the most important source of tribal livelihoods, but it is also central to their community identity, history and culture. Many non-Scheduled area states have also created legal protections for protecting land rights of tribals. However, CPR Land Rights Initiative research shows that despite these special protections, Scheduled Tribes remain one of the most vulnerable, most impoverished, and most displaced of all groups in India. 47.1% of all STs in rural areas are below the poverty line as compared to 33.8% for the national average, whereas 28.8% of all STs in urban areas are below the poverty line as compared to 20.9% for the national average. Inspite of being the only group with constitutional protections for their land rights, 9.4 % of STs are landless compared to 7.4% for the national average. While STs constitute only 8.6% of the total population, it is estimated that they constitute 40% of all people who have been displaced during the period 1951 to 1990, some more than once, due to the construction of dams, mines, industrial development, and the creation of wildlife parks and sanctuaries. Only 24.7% of ST population that was displaced during this period was rehabilitated. Therefore, it is clear that these groups have disproportionately borne the burden of economic development. Why is this so? The CPR Land Rights Initiative report on ‘The legal and political economy of land rights of Scheduled Tribes in the Scheduled Areas of India’, offers some preliminary answers to these questions. Through a review of constitutional provisions, laws, and policies, governing the rights of Scheduled Tribes and the administration of Scheduled Areas, and the financial and administrative structures that effectuate these protections, the Report delineates a conflicting regime of protective and displacing laws, as well as conflicting policy narratives underlying these laws which facilitate the displacement of Scheduled Tribes and their corresponding landlessness. The Report also contains extensive primary data on the current mapping of Scheduled areas, and the current distribution of dams, forests, and mining activity, in the Scheduled areas. Key findings: Extent of geographical area, and distribution of forests, dams, and mining activity in Scheduled Areas: The Report establishes for the first time that as much as 13% of India’s geographical area is in the Scheduled Areas. Further, the Report finds that both the concentration of forest cover, and the concentration of dams, is significantly higher in Scheduled area districts (a little over two and a half times) as compared to non-Scheduled area districts. Finally, we find that 90% of all mineral wealth generated in India comes from states that have Scheduled Areas. Fragmented constitutional protections for Scheduled Tribes: The Report concludes that despite the centrality of land to the identity, economy, and culture of the Scheduled Tribes, the constitutional protections for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Areas are fragmented and contradictory. The creation of these fragmented protections was in turn a product of two factors. First, even at the time of drafting of the Constitution, many tribal communities were no longer located within the geographically isolated scheduled areas, while many non-tribal communities were resident there, some for several generations. The Constitution makers created safeguards both for tribal people resident in Scheduled areas and those that were residing outside Scheduled Areas, but these fragmented protections failed to fully safeguard the rights of STs. Second, they arose from an inherent contradiction in creating geographically protected areas for Scheduled Tribes, while at the same time imposing no restrictions on the movement of tribals outside those areas, or on the movement of non tribals to those areas. This enabled more dominant non-tribal communities to settle in scheduled areas and in practice displace STs. Special constitutional and legal protections for ST land rights negated by contrary laws: The Report concludes that special constitutional and legal protections for land rights of STs have been diluted by a contrary legal framework comprised of forests, mining, and land acquisition laws. While state land alienation prohibition laws prohibit transfer of land from tribals to non tribals, there is no prohibition on the state acquiring land in Scheduled Areas for its own purposes in the exercise of its power of eminent domain or assertion of its rights over forestland. State led lawfully sanctioned development in the form of dams, mines, industrial development, and wildlife parks and sanctuaries, has historically been the biggest displacer of STs. This is corroborated by data on the intensity of dams and mining activity in the Scheduled Areas as outlined in the Report. Fundamental contradictions between ‘identity based isolation’ and ‘development through integration’ policy narratives of the British and Indian states: The Report finds a fundamental contradiction between two narratives that have characterised the policies of the British colonial state and the independent Indian state. The first narrative, that the Report calls the ‘identity based isolation’ narrative, identifies the tribals as a ‘distinctive group outside mainstream Hindu society’ both in terms of their ‘cultural traits’ and ‘geographical isolation’, and argues that they are keen to preserve their distinctiveness and their isolation. The second narrative called the ‘development through integration’ narrative identifies the tribal way of life as backward, compared to mainstream Indian population and seeks to improve their economic and social indicators to ‘integrate’ or ‘assimilate’ them with the mainstream population. The Report concludes that while both the ‘identity based isolation’ and ‘development through integration’ narratives, characterised the drafting of constitutional protections for STs, post-independence policy making was guided primarily by the latter. STs have however, rejected the ‘development through integration’ narrative as paternalistic and patronising, alleging that it fails to capture their aspirations to ‘develop according to their own genius.’ Meagre financial allocations for ST welfare: Translating policy and legal protections into reality needs financial resources. Even though the Constitution envisages a centralised framework for the administration of tribal areas under the aegis of the President and Governors of states, the responsibility of financing the costs of progressive change increasingly vests with the states. The Report computes significant shortfalls in Planning Commission recommended financial allocations made by both central and state governments in Scheduled area states under the tribal sub plan. Misguided expenditure of allocated funds compounds the problem of shortfall of funds for tribal development.
Topic:
Political Economy, Law, Economies, Constitution, Ethnicity, and Land Rights
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

15. Understanding Myanmar: History and Current Perspectives: A Conversation with Derek Mitchell

Author:
Derek Mitchell and Maia Brown-Jackson
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Fletcher Security Review
Institution:
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:
Derek Mitchell is senior advisor to the Asia Program at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Ambassador Mitchell was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 29, 2012, as the first U.S. ambassador to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar in 22 years. He took up his post in July 2012, and departed March 2016. Ambassador Mitchell has authored numerous books, articles, and opinion pieces on Asian security affairs. He received an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, Ethnicity, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia and Myanmar

16. What We Know About Race and Ethnicity

Author:
Michael Banton
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Berghahn Books
Abstract:
Attempts of nineteenth-century writers to establish “race” as a biological concept failed after Charles Darwin opened the door to a new world of knowledge. Yet this word already had a place in the organization of everyday life and in ordinary English language usage. This book explains how the idea of race became so important in the USA, generating conceptual confusion that can now be clarified. Developing an international approach, it reviews references to “race,” “racism,” and “ethnicity” in sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and comparative politics and identifies promising lines of research that may make it possible to supersede misleading notions of race in the social sciences.
Topic:
Race, Sociology, and Ethnicity
Political Geography:
United States and North America

17. Turkey’s presidential system and the Kurds: Increased resentment, fragmentation, or deal-making?

Author:
Toni Alaranta
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The Kurds are an ethnic group of approximately 35 million people, half of whom live inside the Republic of Turkey, where the conflict between the state and the Kurdish separatist PKK organization has now lasted for over three decades. After a promising peace process in 2009–2015, the AKP government under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has now reduced Turkey’s Kurdish question to anti-terror operations, and marginalized the legal Kurdish HDP party, echoing the failed policy of the 1990s. Turkey is now a presidential system where power is tightly concentrated in the hands of President Erdoğan, a development directly opposed to Kurdish demands for greater local autonomy in the Kurdish-majority districts. Through the PKK network and transnational Kurdish sympathies, the fate of Syria’s and Turkey’s Kurds is now inextricably intertwined. The current way of building the new regime in Turkey is likely to produce more PKK attacks, but also widespread resentment among ordinary Kurds, including those opposing the PKK.
Topic:
Authoritarianism, Ethnicity, Separatism, and transnationalism
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Asia, and Kurdistan

18. Turkmen in Tal Afar: Perceptions of Reconciliation and Conflict

Author:
Khogir Wirya
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
Abstract:
With the military defeat of the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul city, the task to liberate Tel Afar continues to loom large. The fall of Tal Afar to IS on 16 June, 2014 has severely damaged the already strained Sunni/Shia relations in the area, as well as Turkmen relations with other ethno-religious communities. Most of Tal Afar’s Sunni and Shia population were displaced during the crisis. However, some Sunni Turkmen decided not to flee and remained in Tal Afar. Although much is still unclear, it is widely believed that a number of Sunni Turkmen from Tal Afar joined IS and stand accused of having committed war crimes in their name. Reconciling communities and repairing social ties are critical needs in ensuring stability and preventing the onset of renewed cycles of violence in the future. Such processes however, can only be advanced through consultation with local populations regarding their needs and vision for the future. The focus of this report is therefore on Turkmen perceptions of needs, opportunities, and obstacles to reconciliation within their own community as well as with other communities. The report finds that Turkmen from Tal Afar overwhelmingly conceptualise reconciliation as a security objective that is important for enabling the safe return of the displaced. At least in the short term therefore, participants prioritised reconciliation between the Sunni and Shia Turkmens over reconciliation with other communities living elsewhere.Interviews revealed strongly overlapping views on how sectarian violence had emerged and escalated in the past, and how it should be addressed in the future. Because reconciliation in Tal Afar requires communities to reject and actively combat extremist ideologies, the process must encompass mechanisms to enable these communities to resist the influence of radical organisations. According to the majority of both Sunni and Shia participants, the first step in this process is the inclusion of Sunnis in the security sector. Creating an inclusive, formal security sector comprised of all elements of society is seen as the main need for enabling reconciliation in the future. Serious issues of distrust, however, appears to stand in the way. The process of building trust between Sunni and Shia Turkmen faces additional challenges stemming from the fact that both communities continue to perceive each other as serving an exogenous agenda. While Shias suspect Sunnis of alignment with Turkey, Sunnis for their part see the Shias as an extension of Iranian interests in the area. Nonetheless, both communities clearly labelled security sector reform as the first step in stabilising the area after liberation, and expressed the hope that any process would not be thwarted by external actors. In terms including Sunnis in the security sector, Shias expressed concerns about infiltration of government institutions by extremist elements. This obstacle can partly be overcome by recruiting Sunnis in the force tasked with liberating Tal Afar. For the Shias, Sunni participation constitutes a vetting mechanism which can identify those who are committed to peaceful relations and oppose extremist ideologies. Sunni inclusion in the operation to liberate Tal Afar will also increase inter-group contact and cooperation, thus contributing to the formation of shared experiences and long-term objectives. Although intra-community reconciliation is clearly prioritised over reconciliation with other communities, participants also reflected on ways to improve relations with the neighbouring Eyzidi community. The liberation of Tal Afar will present opportunities for doing so. Criminal investigations into the crimes committed by IS as well as other actors should be initiated promptly. Sunni tribal leaders must strongly condemn crimes committed by members of their tribe and cooperate closely with law enforcement to ensure accountability can be imposed. However, it is equally important to publicise positive stories of Turkmen from Tal Afar who have risked their own lives to resist IS and help free some Eyzidi captives. Highlighting these accounts can serve an important role in countering perceptions of collective guilt towards the Sunni Turkmen community in Tal Afar.
Topic:
Islamic State, Ethnicity, Sunni, and Shia
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, and Mosul

19. Can Indigenous Associations Foster Trust, Tolerance, and Public Goods? Exploring the Role of Grins in Post-Conflict Mali

Author:
Jaimie Bleck and Philippe LeMay-Boucher
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of International Education
Abstract:
People gather in structured, if informal, community groups for many reasons—social, such as a book club or softball league; economic, such as a team hosting a fundraiser for a member’s medical expenses; or political, such as neighbors meeting to address flooding caused by poor infrastructure. But how does participating in such groups affect people’s well-being or decisions to work for other community improvements? Level of political knowledge? Level of trust toward group members, people in the broader community, or institutions such as the government? Or willingness to tolerate differences that are often at the root of conflict, such as ethnicity and religion? Through an Innovation and Research Grant funded by USAID’s Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance under the Democracy Fellows and Grants Program, Professors Jaimie Bleck from the University of Notre Dame and Philippe LeMay-Boucher from Heriot-Watt University, in collaboration with Jacopo Bonan from Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and Bassirou Sarr from the Paris School of Economics, worked to answer these questions by studying community groups called grins that meet in neighborhoods across Mali’s cities. The research, which included both survey data and data generated through the public goods and trust experimental games, was implemented in two sites in Mali: the capital Bamako and the twin cities of Mopti and Sevare, on the border between the formerly occupied north and the south. Key findings include: Grins’ primary purpose is social, but the groups also help members meet economic needs and provide a venue for political discussion and community service, such as neighborhood cleanup. The majority of grins are male-only, and the majority of grin members are male, comparatively better educated, and unmarried; however, members of male-only grins trusted one another less than members of mixed-gender or female-only grins. Members are better able to produce public goods than non-members, but only when working with members of their own grin. Members are considered more trustworthy than non-members, except for grins with internally displaced persons as members. Grinmembers had more trust in social institutions and diverse ethnic groups, though no more trust of the government; members of ethnically homogenous grins trusted diverse ethnic groups less.
Topic:
Politics, Ethnicity, Conflict, Institutions, and Indigenous
Political Geography:
Africa and Mali

20. Japan, Chongryon, and Sanctions

Author:
James F. Durand
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
With nearly 900,000 long-term residents, Japan has one of the largest populations of overseas Koreans. Japan is unique in that it is the only country that further classifies its Korean residents by external political affiliation; i.e., those not adopting Japanese nationality are affiliated with the Korean Residents Union of Japan (Mindan) or the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), organizations that are linked to South and North Korea, respectively. The status of Korean residents in Japan, and both organizations supporting them, is a product of Japan’s complex relationship with the Korean Peninsula during the last century. American concerns about Japan’s Korean residents—both as an occupying power and a treaty ally—add another dimension to what should have been a domestic or bilateral issue between the Government of Japan, its Korean residents, and North or South Korea. Chongryon’s long-term financial, material, and technical support to Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs highlighted the differences between all governments. However, Pyongyang’s admission that it abducted Japanese citizens has brought about significant changes in the Japanese government’s policies toward North Korea and Chongryon. These include the suspension of ferry services between the two countries and limiting remittances to North Korea. As the Trump Administration considers tighter sanctions as part of its North Korean strategy, the history of the Japan’s relations with its proPyongyang residents provides a cautionary tale about the international community’s ability to use sanctions as a means to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile ambitions.
Topic:
Immigration, Sanctions, Weapons, Ethnicity, and Abductions
Political Geography:
Japan, Asia, South Korea, North Korea, North America, and United States of America