Spatial and historical determinants of separatism and integration. 1. Qualitative analysis

TL;DR

This paper explores how spatial and historical factors influence separatist movements over the long term, emphasizing the borrowing of strategies from past episodes and supporting Tilly's theory of restricted action repertoires.

Contribution

It introduces a qualitative model linking historical and spatial determinants of separatism, illustrating its application through critical case analyses.

Findings

Separatist strategies are often borrowed from historical episodes.

Historical and spatial factors significantly influence separatist success.

The model supports Tilly's thesis on restricted repertoires of action.

Abstract

Separatism is examined in a long-run perspective. Accordingly, many political or economic factors which may be crucial in dealing with short-term episodes can be safely disregarded. Extending an approach pioneered by J. Jenkins, the paper assesses the role of spatial and historical factors. It shows that the means used to stage a separatist struggle are to a notable extent borrowed from former historical episodes, an analysis which supports and illustrates Charles Tilly's thesis of restricted repertoires of action. The purpose of the present paper is to introduce the model, to make it plausible and to demonstrate its potential usefulness by examining a number of critical examples. A more systematic analysis is carried out in a follow-up paper by using a data set that includes about 40 cases of separatist struggles.