Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As withsecession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greater autonomy are usually not considered separatists.[1] Some discourse settings equate separatism withreligious segregation,racial segregation, orsex segregation, while other discourse settings take the broader view that separation by choice may serve useful purposes and is not the same as government-enforced segregation. There is some academic debate about this definition, and in particular how it relates tosecessionism, as has been discussed online.[2]
Separatist groups practice a form ofidentity politics, or political activity and theorizing founded in the shared experiences of the group's members. Such groups believe attempts at integration with dominant groups compromise their identity and ability to pursue greaterself-determination.[3] However, economic and political factors usually are critical in creating strong separatist movements as opposed to less ambitious identity movements.[4]
Resistance by victims of oppression, including denigration of their language, culture or religion.
Influence and propaganda by those inside and outside the region who hope to gain politically from intergroup conflict and hatred.
Economic and political dominance of one group that does not share power and privilege in an egalitarian fashion.
Economic motivations: seeking to end economic exploitation by more powerful group or, conversely, to escape economic redistribution from a richer to a poorer group.
Preservation of threatened religious, language or other cultural tradition.
Destabilization from one separatist movement giving rise to others.
Geopolitical power vacuum from breakup of larger states or empires.
Continuing fragmentation as more and more states break up.
Feeling that the perceived nation was added to the larger state by illegitimate means.
The perception that the state can no longer support one's own group or has betrayed their interests.
Ethnic separatism can be based on cultural, linguistic as well asreligious orracial differences. Ethnic separatist movements were relevant since they represented historical delineations betweenstates, or in recent times, were the cause of conflicts between peoples in Europe, Africa and Asia with different ethnic/linguistic origins.
The relationship between gender and separatism is complex.[6]Feminist separatism is women's choosing to separate from ostensibly male-defined, male-dominated institutions, relationships, roles and activities.[7]Lesbian separatism advocateslesbianism as the logical result of feminism. Some separatist feminists and lesbian separatists have chosen to live apart inintentional community,cooperatives, and onland trusts.[8]Queer nationalism (or "Gay separatism") seeks a community distinct and separate from other social groups.[9][10] On the other hand, theMGTOW movement is sometimes considered amale-gender separatism, as at the center of this ideology is the notion of male separatism where men should not be a part of a feminist-biased society. Some fringe elements even propose a utopical no-women state.[11][12][13]
Some separatist groups seek to separate from others alongracial lines. They oppose interracial marriage and integration with other races and seek separate schools, businesses, churches and other institutions, and often separate societies, territories, countries, and governments:
White separatism in the United States and Western Europe seeks separation of the white race and limits to nonwhiteimmigration under the argument that these policies are necessary for the white race's survival.
Sikhs inLondon protesting against the Indian government
Religious separatist groups and sects want to withdraw from some larger religious groups and/or believe they should interact primarily with coreligionists:[citation needed]
Zionism sought the creation of theState of Israel as aJewish homeland, with separation fromgentile Palestinians.Simon Dubnow, who had mixed feelings toward Zionism, formulatedJewish Autonomism, which was adopted in eastern Europe by Jewish political parties such as theBund and his ownFolkspartei before World War II.[24] Zionism can also be seen as somewhat ethnic too, however, as its definition of who is Jewish has often included people of Jewish background who do not practice the Jewish religion. It is further complicated as some who had ancestors who converted to Judaism, such as some Ethiopian Jews, may not share ethnic history with the Jews, however, are considered to be so but not without debate.[25]
ThePartition of India and (later Pakistan andBangladesh) arose as a result of separatism on the part of Muslims.
The demand for an independent Sikh homeland calledKhalistan emerged during the 1970s and 1980s amid political tensions inPunjab, particularly surrounding theAnandpur Sahib Resolution, which primarily sought greater autonomy for Punjab and the protection of Sikh identity within the Indian Union. Escalation occurred when armed militants led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale occupied theHarimandir Sahib (Golden Temple) complex. In June 1984, the Government of India launchedOperation Blue Star to remove the militants from the site. The military action resulted in casualties, including civilians, and caused deep anguish among manySikhs globally.
Later that year, the assassination ofPrime MinisterIndira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards led to the tragic1984 anti-Sikh riots, in which thousands of Sikhs were killed. While these events led to a rise in support for theKhalistan movement in some sections of the Sikh diaspora, the movement steadily declined in India by the 1990s.
Today, Sikhs in India are equal citizens under the Constitution, and actively contribute to the country’s political, military, economic, and cultural life. The idea of Khalistan holds little to no support among Indian Sikhs, and is generally viewed as a fringe movement, largely sustained by diaspora activism abroad. Attempts to revive it within India have consistently failed to gain traction.[26]
How far separatist demands will go toward full independence, and whether groups pursue constitutional and nonviolent action or armed violence, depend on a variety of economic, political, social and cultural factors, including movement leadership[27] and the government's response.[4] Governments may respond in a number of ways, some of which are mutually exclusive. Some include:[28]
improve the circumstances of disadvantaged minorities, be they religious, linguistic, territorial, economic or political
adopt "asymmetricfederalism" where different states have different relations to the central government depending on separatist demands or considerations
allow minorities to win in political disputes about which they feel strongly, through parliamentary voting, referendum, etc.
settle for aconfederation or acommonwealth relationship where there are only limited ties among states.
^abSee D.L. Horowitz's "Patterns of Ethnic Separatism", originally published inComparative Studies in Society and History, 1981, vol 23, 165-95. Republished in John A. Hall,The State: Critical Concepts,Archived 2017-03-27 at theWayback Machine, Routledge, 1994.
^Pinson, Koppel S. (1958).Simon Dubnow. pp. 13–69.
^Lucotte G, Smets P; Smets (December 1999). "Origins of Falasha Jews studied by haplotypes of the Y chromosome".Human Biology.71 (6):989–993.PMID10592688.
^Punj, Blbir (June 16, 2006)."The Ghost of Khalistan".Sikh Times.Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. RetrievedJuly 5, 2008.
^Link to:Archived 2008-06-11 at theWayback MachineChima, Jugdep. "Effects of Political Leadership on Ethnic Separatist Movements in India" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, April 12, 2007, (PDF); Chima, Jugdep. "How Does Political Leadership Affect the Trajectories of Ethnic Separatist Insurgencies?: Comparative Evidence from Movements in India" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Marriott Wardman Park,Omni Shoreham, Washington Hilton, Washington, DC, September 01, 2005 (PDF).
Cabestan, Jean-Pierre; Pavković, Aleksandar, eds. (2013).Secessionism and Separatism in Europe and Asia: To have a state of one's own. Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-66774-6.
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