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The South East of Nigeria has been plagued with skirmishes of neo-civil war between the people of the region and the government. The "new war" in the Southeast is softly prosecuted as a "siege" which is meant to achieve two basic objectives: genocide and economic asphyxiation; typical of what was obtained in the civil war era. Rooted in the sheer perceived malignment of the region mostly populated by the Ibos, the activities of the security forces set up to execute the objectives have been met with stiff resistance from the people through various groups including the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) in a struggle for survival. The paper adopts a qualitative approach that draws data from secondary sources such as textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, newspapers and internet sources. It is concluded that prolonged injustice and marginalization occasioned separatist movements and fuel insecurity in South East Nigeria. The paper recommends the re-integration of the people into governance to combat alienation and exclusion. Government should also promote the de-sieging of the region and convoke a Sovereign National Conference that will involve critical stakeholders in the country to restore peace, engender social change and promote development in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade issues lie at the heart of the two biggest constitutional challenges the UK has faced in decades: Brexit and Scottish independence. Brexit has demonstrated the economic importance of borders and led to renewed calls for Scottish independence. While there are a range of possible trading arrangements an independent Scotland could pursue, all of them involve economically significant change. In this paper, we describe Scottish trade patterns and review the range of options that a newly independent Scotland might have for its trading arrangements. We then model the relative economic importance of these different potential trading arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article revisits the foundational years of 1989–1992 when the Republic of Moldova obtained its independence and simultaneously suffered territorial losses due to separatist movements. The quasi-official view in today's Moldova holds that separatist movements of that era in Transnistria and Gagauzia were the results of Moscow's meddling in Moldovan affairs aimed at punishing the Moldovans' quest for independence. The paper argues that this interpretation attributes too much power to the decision-makers in Moscow, and also strips local actors of agency. Instead, the article calls for a renewed focus on the developments in Moldova itself and for discourses developed by separatist leaders and opinion-setters to be treated as representative of genuine popular sentiment. It argues that the Moldovan national movement alienated the non-Moldovan population whose primary means of communication was Russian. The article relies on personal recollections as well as numerous published primary and secondary sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pasado y Memoria. Revista de Historia Contemporánea is the property of Pasado y Memoria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Teoria y Realidad Constitucional is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this paper is to look at the antecedents of the Indian women's movement and the achievements before and after independence. The status of women has been a central concern of many reform movements in India. Prior to India's independence, the organizations and groups that addressed social issues and sought change for women were closely associated with the independence movement. The women's movement during the 19th century in India emanated from the broader social reforms movement. Consequently, the 20th century freedom movement and women's rights movement in the post-1970s has brought to the fore a wide range of women's concerns. The subsequent events like the constitutional promise of gender equality, Towards Equality Report prepared by the Committee on the Status of Women in 1974 have surely promoted women's concern to some extent. All these achievements were the result of women's movement groups that worked for the promotion of women's rights and equality. In the above-stated context, this paper also analysis the issues of women's justice and equality taken up by women's groups in pre and post-independent India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Adam Academy Journal of Social Sciences / Adam Akademi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Adam Academy Journal of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The last decade has witnessed a significant rise in European secessionist movements leading to considerable political turmoil (e.g., protest, repression, imprisonment of political leaders). While scholars have identified a number of economic and political factors that influence the support for secessionist movements, fewer studies have focused on its psychological roots. Using evidence from Catalonia, this paper investigates the role of two fundamental individual traits, Need for Affect (NFA) and Need for Cognition (NFC), in influencing the support for Catalan independence. It analyzes a large representative sample of adult Catalans in 2013, during the peak of the secessionist movement, to examine the influence of NFA and NFC, and their interaction, on the intention to vote in favor of seceding from Spain. Results indicate that individuals who have high levels in NFA and those who have high levels of NFA and low levels of NFC are more likely to support independence. In other words, individuals who have low levels of both NFA and NFC have the lowest support for independence. In conclusion, these findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences in psychological motives in order to fully understand support for secessionist movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue of the National Institute Economic Review is being published at an unsettled and uncertain time for the United Kingdom. In June 2022, the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon called for a second referendum on Scottish independence to be held in October 2023. While it is unlikely that the referendum will be granted by the UK government, current polling suggests the outcome of such a referendum would be too close to call. Eight years after Scotland voted 55%–45% to stay in the Union, independence remains a live issue, which raises fundamental questions about economic and governance arrangements between Westminster and the UK's constituent parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the inner debate in Basque nationalism resulting from the Easter Rising between 1916 and 1918. Basque nationalists firmly believed that the Irish Revolution would affect the British war effort, the outcome of the Great War and hence Basque political vindication itself. The official nationalist leadership and its organ, Euzkadi, supported Great Britain, arguing a British military triumph in Ireland and in the Great War would bring a worldwide era of autonomy for national minorities. Pro-independence militants, however, not only expressed solidarity and outspoken support towards the rebels, but also associated their victory with a post-war scenario favourable to independence movements. This study focuses on the two competing Basque nationalist interpretations as presented in the media. Simultaneously, traditionalist parties (i.e. Carlists and Integrists) exacerbated nationalists’ differences in order to weaken a direct political rival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The definition of society is tight with human group-level behavior. Group faultlines defined as hypothetical lines splitting groups into homogeneous subgroups based on members' attributes have been proposed as a theoretical method to identify conflicts within groups. For instance, crusades and women's rights protests are the consequences of strong faultlines in societies with diverse cultures. Measuring the presence and strength of faultlines represents an important challenge. Existing literature resorts in questionnaires as traditional tool to find group-level behavioral attributes and thus identify faultlines. However, questionnaire data usually come with limitations and biases, especially for large-scale human group-level research. On top of that, questionnaires limit faultline research due to the possibility of dishonest answers, unconscientious responses, and differences in understanding and interpretation. In this paper, we propose a new methodology for measuring faultlines in large-scale groups, which leverages data readily available from online social networks' marketing platforms. Our methodology overcomes the limitations of traditional methods to measure group-level attributes and group faultlines at scale. To prove the applicability of our methodology, we analyzed the faultlines between people living in Spain, grouped by geographical regions. We collected data on 67,270 interest topics from Facebook users living in Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. We computed existing metrics to measure faultlines' distance and strenght using our data to identify potential faultlines existing among Spanish regions. The results reveal that the strongest faultlines in Spain belong to Spanish Islands (the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands), Catalonia, and Basque regions. These findings are aligned with the historical secessionist movements and cultural diversity reports supporting the validity of our methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populist parties, movements, and leaders have been an object of increased public attention during the last couple of decades worldwide. By opting for more issue-guided actions rather than traditional political ones, based on programs and ideologically close to the center identities, these political actors have grown in stature and are no longer on the fringes of decision-making processes. While right-wing populism has a close relationship with nationalism, conservatism, left-wing populism uses social issues and what it calls "class divide" and the promise of fighting "old orders" towards an equal society. Both strands of populism use the actual dissatisfaction of the people and presumed lack of responses of mainstream politics to new challenges in recent years (economic decline, migrant crises, COVID 19, EU post BREXIT). Populists rely heavily on the energy of their movement, protests and gatherings, and social media campaigns in their efforts to change what they often call a prevailing "unstable and unsuitable social order". Central and Eastern Europe has become a testing ground for the growing trend - predominant populist parties in power. What makes populism so popular? How did the parties and movements with ever-changing agendas managed to gain popular support, and move form fringes to the center of decision-making in politics and society? The latest such occurrence is the emergence of the "Self-Determination Movement" (Lëvizja Vetëvendosje, LVV, in Albanian) as the main overwhelming political force in Kosovo. This paper discusses populism, right and left-wing, as well as a syncretic and/or synthetic version of it, an eclectic character, resulting in potential to influence decision-making processes, and in the case of Self-Determination (LVV) and Kosovo specifically how a political party, created initially as a social and nationalist movement managed to gain over 50% of the vote b y u sing b oth r ight a nd l eft-wing agendas and transforming its political positions to suit the ultimate goal - political power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zer: Journal of Communication Studies / Revista de Estudios de Comunicacion / Komunikazio Ikasketen Aldizkaria is the property of Universidad del Pais Vasco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ukrainian Historical Journal / Ukraïnsʹkij Ìstoričnij Žurnal is the property of Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

THIS PAPER EXAMINES AL-SHABAAB AND BOKO HARAM ACTIVITIES IN KENYA AND NIGERIA. IT EXAMINES THE CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN EXPRESSED RHETORIC; CAUSAL FACTORS OF VIOLENT ACTIVITIES AND THE MODES OF OPERATION OF THE TWO MOST DREADED ARMED GROUPS IN AFRICA. RELYING ON PRIMARY, SECONDARY DATA AND CONTENT ANALYSIS OF RELEVANT LITERATURE, THE OPINIONS AND FINDINGS FROM SECURITY DEPARTMENTS, IDPS, AND INFORMATION ON THE DATELINE OF ATTACKS IN NIGERIA AND KENYA HELPS IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW BOKO HARAM AND AL-SHABAAB CARRY OUT THEIR ACTIVITIES. ALSO, THEIR OBJECTIVES AND TARGET, ARMS AND WEAPONS USED AND OTHER OPERATIONAL MODES PROVIDE THE BASE FOR COMPARISON. THE COMPARATIVE METHOD IS ADOPTED TO SHOW THAT AL-SHABAAB AND BOKO HARAM ARE SIMILAR IN THEIR MODES OF OPERATION IN SOME ASPECTS AND ARE DIFFERENT IN OTHERS. THE TWO GROUPS COMBINE ELEMENTS OF LIBERATION MOVEMENTS, INSURGENT MOVEMENT, SEPARATIST AND ISLAMIST MOVEMENTS. THEY ALSO HAVE ELEMENTS OF MILITIA, ARMED GROUPS AND REBEL MOVEMENT. AND, FUNDAMENTALLY, AL-SHABAAB AND BOKO HARAM ADOPTS TERRORISM STRATEGIES AND TACTICS COUPLED WITH CONVENTIONAL MILITARY TYPE OPERATIONS BUT BOKO HARAM HAVE BEEN MORE LETHAL IN ADOPTING MILITARY STRATEGIES AND TACTICS SUCH AS GROUND BATTLE AND DIRECT ASSAULT AGAINST THE STATE MILITARY THAN AL-SHABAAB IN KENYA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Relaciones Internacionales (1699-3950) is the property of Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, International Relations Studies Group (GERI) Law Faculty and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Separatist aspirations in Europe are now a captivating issue. Regions like Scotland and Catalonia deserve special attention. The aim of the article is to show differences in the perception of both cases, due to their frequent comparing in journalistic papers. The study consists of two parts that concern Scotland and Catalonia. In each of them the institutional and legal positions of the regions were taken into the consideration. In addition, the course of events in Scotland and Catalonia in 2014 and 2017 was considered in the context of the independence referendums carried out in these regions. The summary of this article consists of comparison of the factors which show that there are no grounds for adapting analogy between Scotland and Catalonia. Factors that have been taken into account are: the legal order and the regulations used to define the legal status of the regions, and also the relations between central and subnational (regional) levels in Scotland and Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For two weeks in May 2024, protests by pro-independence indigenous Kanaks in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia erupted into a wave of rioting; erection of barricades; and burning of factories, shops and homes with thde deaths of seven people--five Melanesians and two gendarmes. Since the late 1980s the Kanak independence movement had been consistently engaging with the 1988 Matignon then 1998 Nouméa Accords with Paris in an evolving process as part of their struggle for self-determination. The Nouméa Accord set out a framework for transferring power to the people of New Caledonia, through a series of three referenda. However, after France moved to unilaterally break with the Accords and declare independence as being off the table that the country returned to a state of unrest. This article recalls the influence of one of the leaders of the 1980s upheaval, Éloi Machoro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In international relations, West Asia's physical location and closeness to continents and nations - such as South Asia, China, Central Asia, Europe, and Africa - give it a prominent place. In addition to the area's abundant energy resources and commercial routes to other regions of the globe, Abrahamic religions trace their ancestry back to this region. Approximately 34% of global oil production, 45% of crude oil exports, and 48% of known oil reserves are attributed to this area. With the wealth of natural resources in the area, many countries want a piece of the action. Because of external and internal hostilities, the area has long been one of the most unstable in the world. Europe and the United States have occupied the region at different points in time and with differing degrees of success. State governments, populations, ecosystems, natural resources, and economies have all suffered due to the infamous Great Game. The region has been characterized by internal and external transformations like civil wars, religious fanaticism, sectarian rivalry, and separatist movements. In light of this background, this paper studied the foreign policies of India and China in West Asia through the prism of soft power and using a more realistic approach to assessing the present state of affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese Christian church was accused of colluding with Western imperialism, and this led to the anti-Christian movement. The Chinese church responded by accelerating a movement of church independence. Discussions of this movement have often been incorporated into a discourse of aggression and resistance between East and West. Such discussions obscure the differences between individuals and the plurality of thought in the Chinese church. Based on the textual analysis of his writings, the article aims to reveal previously overlooked details within Jia Yuming's justification of the independence movement by. On the one hand, Jia responded to nationalism by pointing out the ethnic and national identities and obligations of Christians. On the other hand, he avoided conflict with the Western missions in the process of independence, thus taking the church's independence out of the context of East–West confrontation. Finally, he reconciled the conflict between national identity and the Western image with the ecumenical values of Christ and the Christian reformation of society, unifying both sides with ultimate spirituality. His justification draws attention to an attuned theological path of thought in the process of indigenization of the Chinese church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do some countries escape the political resource curse while others do not? Most scholars argue that avoiding the claimed anti-democratic effects of natural resources, especially oil, largely depends on the quality of pre-existing political institutions and/or the effectiveness of contemporary resource management institutions. Drawing on the most-likely case of Timor-Leste, one of the world's most oil-dependent countries that nevertheless successfully consolidated democracy, we challenge these dominant theories and highlight new important factors to consider. We show that Timor-Leste did not avoid the curse because of good pre-existing political institutions, good natural resource governance institutions, or an otherwise favorable environment for democracy. Instead, we find that the ideological beliefs of major political actors, their strong popular legitimacy, the absence of a hegemonic actor among them, as well as the approaches of external actors, have produced a consolidated democracy despite strong incentives for the development of authoritarianism. These findings highlight the importance of ideology and agency, of the composition of independence movements, and of constructive international engagement, in particular at critical historical junctures. In short, even countries facing serious political and economic challenges can avoid the political resource curse, and both scholars and policymakers should consider a broader approach to the phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on nationalist movements in Western democracies has almost exclusively focused on ethno-nationalist parties by attributing to them the key-role of "ethnic entrepreneurs". Yet, non-institutional actors such as social movement organizations and grassroots groups can significantly impact the history of territorial contention and reshape movements. Their role is thus explored in the Scottish and Catalan struggles for selfdetermination between the 1980s and the 2000s. Firstly, the historical analysis of transformative events shows how the latter were set in motion by noninstitutional actors. While Scottish organizations and groups operated to foster crossparty cooperation, the Catalan counterparts operated to mobilize society and popular support. Secondly, a thematic analysis of primary sources shows that the mobilizations fuelled by these events produced organizational and cultural changes in both nationalist movements. These changes left their legacy suggesting that former grassroots mobilizations made an important difference to resources mobilized in the current secessionist movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Catalana de Dret Públic is the property of Revista Catalana de Dret Public and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Iceland stands out in today's Europe due to the fact that most Icelanders use patronymics rather than surnames. However, a small percentage of Icelanders do have surnames inherited in a fixed form. The first surnames were adopted in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, increasing numbers of Icelanders were taking up surnames, often Danicized or Latinized versions of Icelandic patronymics or place names. The practice became controversial with the rise of the independence movement, which was closely connected to linguistic purism. The use of surnames in Iceland has been debated since the 19th century. Whereas the other Nordic countries introduced legislation requiring citizens to have surnames, Iceland went in the opposite direction, forbidding new surnames starting in 1925. However, the surnames that were already in use were allowed to remain in circulation. This created an inequality which has haunted Icelandic name law discourse since. Having a surname in Iceland has often been linked with social prestige, and surnames have been perceived as a limited good. Since the 1990s, the fraction of Icelanders with surnames has increased through immigration and some liberalizations in the rules regarding the inheritance of existing Icelandic surnames. In the name of gender equity, surnames can be inherited along any line, not only patrilineal. Since 1996, immigrants seeking Icelandic citizenship are no longer required to change their names, and their children can inherit their surnames. The category of millinöfn (middle name), surname-like names that are not inflected for gender, was introduced in the 1996 law; some Icelanders with millinöfn use them as surnames in daily life even if they officially have patronymics. Despite the expansion in eligibility to take surnames, the basic principle that no new Icelandic surnames are allowed remains in the law and remains a point of contention. Many of the same themes—individual freedom vs. the preservation of cultural heritage, national vs. international orientation, gender equity—have recurred in the discourse over more than a century, reframed in the context of contemporary cultural values at any given time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an adaptation of Kuik's hedging theory to analyse the secessionist movements in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both seeking independence from Georgia with Russian support. By examining their distinctive strategies, this study addresses the extent to which these regions seek to maintain their independence from Russia, as their patron state. The article argues for the need to modify hedging theory to accommodate the unique context of former Soviet actors and de facto states. The adaptation develops the concept of a "political hedge," with a focus on elite-driven nation-building as a mechanism to influence the likelihood of Russian integration. Abkhazia is identified as an illustrative case of hedging behaviour, whereas South Ossetia displays characteristics resembling but distinct from bandwagoning. This analysis contributes to refining the applicability of hedging theory within novel political environments and underscores the significance of elite-led nation-building in shaping state and national legitimacy in secessionist regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Estudios Sociales is the property of Universidad de los Andes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The enduring effectiveness of the "divide and conquer" political strategy employed by foreign powers remains evident in contemporary times, demonstrating ongoing challenges in achieving unity within Indonesia's diverse population under the framework of NKRI. The Papua Separatist Movement (PSM) seeks international support for an alternative referendum to the 1969 Pepera, aiming to achieve independence from Indonesia through political, covert, and armed means, despite the government's closure of referendum options. This qualitative research, based on a comprehensive literature review, aims to explore efforts to address and improve key issues exploited by the PSM's political front, including economic inequality, education disparities, healthcare gaps, infrastructure limitations, and security challenges. Additionally, the study will examine initiatives aimed at curbing the activities of the PSM's armed front, which has been implicated in numerous human rights violations against indigenous Papuans, civilians, foreigners, security personnel, and the military. President Jokowi has emphasized the need for a comprehensive solution to this issue, underscoring the importance of addressing root causes while maintaining the government's soft power approach, which focuses on normative and functional integration. Furthermore, the Indonesian government actively engages in diplomatic interactions with other nations, organizations, and international communities, with the ultimate objective of resolving the conflict through the harmonious integration of Papua into Indonesia's vision of a secure and prosperous nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Politicas y Sociales is the property of Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Politicas y Sociales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There is a burgeoning literature on the religion-social movement connection. However, these literatures have on the one hand been geographically biased as most of the focus has been on the global north, and on the other hand, conceptually and theoretically inconclusive as much of the scholarly attention has been on the mobilization role of religion in social movements. As a contribution towards filling this gap, the present study examined the religious framing of the neo-Biafra separatist agitations in Nigeria. Using content and thematic analytical methods, the study analysed eight speeches delivered by the Indigenous People of Biafra's (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu. With the findings showing an overwhelming frequency of religious concepts and the leader's attempt to blend the socio-political and the religious aspirations of the Igbo people, the study demonstrates that religion is increasingly being appropriated to sustain the current Biafra separatist movement in Nigeria. Implications of the findings for research and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Radovi Zavod za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zaru is the property of Zavod za Povijesne Znanosti HAZU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista d'Estudis Autonòmics i Federals is the property of Revista d'Estudis Autonomics i Federals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Wide tensions regarding the organization of nation-state power have been triggered over the last years in the UK and Spain. By contrast, in the UK, (i) the plebiscite on Scottish Independence has been characterized since 2014 so far by a regular hegemony of the SNP in Scotland, and (ii) more recently, distinct resilient responses to tackle COVID-19 have dramatically shifted perceptions about the potential constitutional arrangements in Wales partially opposing a state-centric vision of the UK. By contrast, the role played by the constitutionally illegal but socially constitutive referendum in Catalonia on 1 October 2017, remarkably provoked the re-emergence of the Spanish far-right narrative through the surge of the new political party called Vox. In both cases, the urban in Glasgow, Cardiff, and Barcelona has been shaping various oppositions to state-centric agendas, and such oppositions have shaped elections in the UK and Spain. This article sheds light on the distinct, emerging, and emancipatory urban citizenship regimes in Catalonia, Scotland, and Wales, particularly illustrating the roles that Barcelona, Glasgow, and Cardiff, respectively, are playing in articulating a counter-reaction by rescaling a state-centric vision. This article employs past elections' evidence to illustrate such regimes amid postpandemic times in datafied states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Çankırı Karatekin University Journal of the Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences is the property of Cankiri Karatekin University, Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Collected Papers of Zagreb Law Faculty / Zbornik Pravnog Fakulteta u Zagrebu is the property of Sveuciliste u Zagrebu, Pravni Fakultet and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In Hungarian history, the Crown of St. Stephen was an important relic symbolizing the unity of the Hungarian state. It was not merely a coronation jewel or symbol of royal prerogatives, but a respected element of the country's historic "millennial" constitution. Although the doctrine associated with it was a unique Hungarian constitutional theory, symbolizing national independence, it was flexible enough to serve various political ideas and ambitions. The Crown has always embodied the monarchical form of the Hungarian State, and its sacred character symbolized the strong alliance of the monarchy with the Catholic Church. Is this historical doctrine compatible with the values and requirements of modern Europe and the requirements of present-day Hungarian constitutionalism? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leo Zeilig's biography, "A Revolutionary for Our Time: The Walter Rodney Story," provides a comprehensive account of Walter Rodney's life and work. The book explores Rodney's upbringing in a politically active family, his academic achievements, and his involvement in various political movements and organizations. While the biography offers valuable insights into Rodney's time in Tanzania and his lectures on the Russian Revolution, it lacks detail on his experiences in Jamaica and Cuba. Additionally, the book could benefit from more critical reflection and engagement with differing perspectives on Rodney's work. Overall, "A Revolutionary for Our Time" serves as a useful introduction to Walter Rodney's contributions. [Extracted from the article]

Almost all academic literature about the causes and consequences of fairness of elections and referenda is based on retrospective evaluations. One of the strongest findings of such studies is that nonvoting is higher among citizens who retrospectively perceived an election as unfair. However, on logical grounds, it is impossible to attribute lower rates of voting to retrospectively perceived unfairness because at the time of the vote citizens can only rely on their prospective expectations of fairness. Moreover, it is well documented that retrospective evaluations are strongly influenced by the outcome of the election which is, at the time of voting, still unknown. In view of the dearth of earlier studies on prospective views of electoral fairness, this article presents the first major exploratory analyses of determinants and consequences of prospective expectations of electoral fairness. Using data from Britain about expectations of fairness of three general elections and two referenda in the period between 2014 and 2019, it shows that the public hold mixed views about the fairness they expect to find when voting. The article demonstrates that these prospective fairness beliefs are sometimes noticeably different to retrospective beliefs in terms of their predictors. Moreover, in sharp contrast to literature based on retrospective evaluations, this article also finds that prospective evaluations do not importantly affect the decision to vote. These findings have important implications for how we understand and evaluate the inclusiveness of elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ABEI Journal: The Brazilian Journal of Irish Studies is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Estudos Irlandeses and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Brexit has both increased the momentum towards Scottish independence and complicated what it could mean in practice, especially if Scotland rejoins the European Union (EU). EU accession would re-open the flow of goods, people, services and capital between Scotland and other EU member-states; a corollary of this, however, would be new restrictions on movement between Scotland and its non-EU neighbours. Effective border management entails a variety of 'at the border' and 'behind the border' processes. As much as these would require dedicated infrastructure and trained personnel, they would ultimately depend upon reliable data/information and good communication among myriad agencies, including on the other side of the border. Fundamentally, the nature and form of the border controls would be determined largely by the relationship that an independent Scotland had with the remainder of the UK—and, principally, on the relationship that the UK develops with the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equilibrium size of a nation state is, in part, the result of a trade-off between the gains from scale economies in the provision of public services and the costs of applying uniform policy to heterogeneous cultural, institutional and geographical fundamentals. Changes in such fundamentals can thus place pressure on states to reform over time. We consider this dynamic state formation process in the context of Scotland within the United Kingdom. First, we review the recent research in economic history on the persistence and evolution of such fundamentals. Second, we consider the history of Scotland both before and after the 1707 Act of Union in the light of that broader economic history literature. We conclude with some implications of fundamental persistence for current debates on the place of Scotland within the United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Histriae is the property of Historical Society of Southern Primorska of Koper and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article considers the implications of Brexit for UK–Irish relations. It examines how Brexit has altered the terms of the British–Irish relationship by considering the impact on bilateral and cross-border economic and trade patterns. The article focuses on two primary economic effects. First, the short-term impact of Brexit and the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol on the Northern Ireland economy, and on trade relations between Great Britain and Ireland and across the Irish border; and second, how Brexit has spurred a discussion about the (economic) appropriateness of partition on the island of Ireland in the post-Brexit period, the extent to which it has led to increased calls for a border poll, and how any future unification process might be economically managed. This includes some provisional evaluation of the economic costs and challenges in relation to future constitutional change for the island of Ireland and the UK. The discussion here connects with wider British constitutional issues including calls for Scottish independence and the possible break-up of the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely understood that we live in a world where people, goods, species, and things of all sorts are on the move, and that the politics around mobility and its regulation and meaning are critical to contemporary political and social life. Human migration has been globally intensive for well over a century; industrial economic production, consumption, and trade move goods around the world; transportation infrastructure moves all sorts of cargo around, human and nonhuman; regular and irregular ecological processes and changes are creating new patterns of nonhuman movement; variants of viruses race around the world; even geological elements are far from static. This special issue tackles the challenge of thinking about mobility, not only in its individual instances where it is treated in self-enclosed containers, and not only in its usual contrast to place, ground, sedentarism, and static forms of being; but rather, in the terms of the generative forces created when multiple mobilities come together and cross paths, for better and for ill--in short, intersecting mobilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An unrelenting policy of francophonisation of the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon spawned a secessionist movement, culminating in a declaration of war in November 2017 against secessionists by the Cameroon nation-state. "Land of My Dreams" is a short story about a mother and daughter living through this war in Bamenda, Cameroon's North West region. It captures the trauma of war on the Anglophone populations of the North West and South West, and highlights how the scars of war are written on and in the bodies of women and girl-children. The mother is consumed with colonial and recent post-colonial histories, and her day-to-day engagements can only draw on that past to anchor the setbacks of the present. Her ten-year-old daughter is acutely aware of the present but engages with their current predicament as a means to imagining a different Cameroonian and African future not only for her family but especially for her female gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation method able to modulate neuronal activity after stroke. The aim of this systematic review was to determine if tDCS combined with robotic therapy (RT) improves limb function after stroke when compared to RT alone.Methods: A search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published prior to July 15, 2021 was performed. The main outcome was function assessed with the Fugl-Meyer motor assessment for upper extremities (FM/ue) and 10-m walking test (10MWT) for the lower limbs. As secondary outcomes, strength was assessed with the Motricity Index (MI) or Medical Research Council scale (MRC), spasticity with the modified Ashworth scale (MAS), functional independence with the Barthel Index (BI), and kinematic parameters.Results: Ten studies were included for analysis (n = 368 enrolled participants). The results showed a non-significant effect for tDCS combined with RT to improve upper limb function [standardized mean difference (SMD) = - 0.12; 95% confidence interval (CI): - 0.35-0.11)]. However, a positive effect of the combined therapy was observed in the lower limb function (SMD = 0.48; 95% CI: - 0.15-1.12). Significant results favouring tDCS combined with RT were not found in strength (SMD = - 0.15; 95% CI: - 0.4-0.1), spasticity [mean difference (MD) =  - 0.15; 95% CI: - 0.8-0.5)], functional independence (MD = 2.5; 95% CI: - 1.9-6.9) or velocity of movement (SMD = 0.06; 95% CI: - 0.3-0.5) with a "moderate" or "low" recommendation level according to the GRADE guidelines.Conclusions: Current findings suggest that tDCS combined with RT does not improve upper limb function, strength, spasticity, functional independence or velocity of movement after stroke. However, tDCS may enhance the effects of RT alone for lower limb function. tDCS parameters and the stage or type of stroke injury could be crucial factors that determine the effectiveness of this therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]