Transatlantic Graduate Student Workshop (TGSW)

• Main Author: Yu-wen Chen (julie
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Canada; sami
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.619.2834; http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/tgsw/documents/Chen Dissertation Outline.pdf

In contemporary international politics, numerous ethnopolitical groups (mostly minorities) are faced with national identity problems.1 They do not identify with the nation-state they reside in and endeavor to cultivate their own identity through diverse means. Some aspire for greater autonomy to govern their own affairs (e.g. Some Sami in Finland), while others have a more radical agenda for independence or separation from their nation-state (e.g. some Quebecois in Canada) (Coppieters and Sakwa, 2003: 4). Still there are other communities who currently belong to two political entities and separate states, and desire to integrate on the basis of common identity (e.g. some Basques in France and Spain) (He, 2004: 227-228). This paper begins with a puzzle: what have influenced ethnopolitical groups to advance their national self-determination causes through transnational collective actions or transnational mobilization?2 The impetus of this study derives from the author’s observation that many ethnopolitical groups seem to have not only initiated campaigns directed towards their home countries to express their aspirations, but also, interestingly, using direct or indirect cooperation with international nongovernmental