The Geography of Europe’s Fourth World
The term Fourth World 1 is a generalisation for thousands of self-identifying nations, regions, and even city-states with territorial aspirations. Arguably such a broad-level categorisation is problematic as each group seeks different levels and types of self-determination and any ‘nation ’ is a uni...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.177.155 http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/ibru/publications/full/bsb3-4_griggs.pdf |
| Summary: | The term Fourth World 1 is a generalisation for thousands of self-identifying nations, regions, and even city-states with territorial aspirations. Arguably such a broad-level categorisation is problematic as each group seeks different levels and types of self-determination and any ‘nation ’ is a unique matrix of social, cultural and aspirational characteristics located in a particular time and place. Yet commonalities appear to exist across these unique matrices. The belief in a common culture tied to an historical but internationally unrecognised claim to territory and a common discourse about these claims is widely evident. Along nearly every line of latitude from the Kingdom of KwaZulu-Natal in the South to Kallaallit Nunnaat (‘Greenland’) in the North there are thousands of movements across the time zones that see states as late ‘occupiers ’ of old culturally bounded territories. These commonalities make it worthy of a ‘phenomenon ’ to be studied by scholars seeking to explain the forces capable of reshaping international boundaries. One such case concerns European boundaries. While the challenges posed by a world economy, global communications, transborder pollution, drugs or defense have been used to explain the drive toward a new political architecture in Europe, few have commented on the role of the Fourth World in this process. Europe’s Fourth World Nations While globally some 6,000 to 9,000 nations lacking official recognition endure as distinct political cultures beneath the boundaries of 191 states, around 110 of these Fourth World nations are located in Europe. Such nations in the past have been the building blocks of European states (statebuilding by nation annexation) and today they are some of the political faultlines along which they have broken apart (e.g. Czechoslovakia) or are breaking apart (e.g. Yugoslavia). Presently, many of these Fourth World nations are organising for a new dispensation based not on sovereign states but a federal ‘Europe of Regions’. 2 one’s political persuasions – a ... |
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