Bishop, M.L. orcid.org/0000-0001-6981-6241, Byron-Reid, J., Corbett, J. et al. (1 more author) (2021) Secession, territorial integrity and (non)-sovereignty : why do some separatist movements in the Caribbean succeed and others fail? Ethnopolitics, 21 (5). pp. 538-560. ISSN 1744-9057
Abstract
Secessionist movements are ubiquitous in the Caribbean, with virtually every multi-island state and territory experiencing centrifugal tendencies. The region thus offers a unique opportunity to examine why some succeed and others fail. By and large, the propensity for secession has not attracted the attention of scholars beyond the region, with small states and territories largely excluded from supposedly ‘global’ analysis on the subject. The article fills this gap by analysing secessionist movements in both sovereign and non-sovereign territories. We find that secession was most likely to occur in the run-up to independence. In the post-colonial period, successes have only occurred among non-sovereign territories—as demonstrated by the fragmentation of the Netherlands Antilles and the administrative separation of St Martin and St Barthélémy from Guadeloupe—which have split from each other while collectively remaining part of a metropolitan state. Non-sovereignty reduces the costs of heterogeneity via the shelter provided by the larger metropolitan power. By analysing hitherto understudied cases, this article thus adds to studies that show how secession is contingent on continued state protections which allow downsizing to occur in an orderly manner, which is in turn consistent with the desire of the international community for geopolitical stability.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. |
Keywords: | secession; separatism; island nationalism; Caribbean, small states; non-sovereign territories |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Politics and International Relations (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 23 Nov 2021 08:59 |
Last Modified: | 17 Nov 2022 15:54 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/17449057.2021.1975414 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:180770 |