CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2010
| Author | Huszka, Beata |
|---|---|
| Title | Secessionist framing: The role of different discourses in creating arguments for self-determination |
| Summary | By looking at the self determination movements which emerged in Yugoslavia and its successor states, we find that the various movements were framed very differently while political leaders tried to garner support for their state building ambitions. While Slovenia claimed to seek independence mainly on economic grounds, in Croatia, historical and ethno-nationalist arguments dominated the discourse on independence. Economic arguments played a prominent role also in Montenegro during mobilization where, however, a reformist, pro-democracy rhetoric became the most salient. The question arises why in some cases of self-determination elites push for a higher level of sovereignty in the name of economic advancement, whereas in other cases, self-determination movements refer to ethnic identity, human rights issues and other kind of rationale. Therefore, this dissertation specifically asks why some movements are framed by certain types of arguments and not by others. Why did the Montenegrin independence movement rely so heavily on a pro-democracy rhetoric and why did economic arguments become so central in Slovenia? How can it be explained that in Croatia ethno-nationalist themes dominated while references to economic reasons remained marginal? This study is based on the assumption that framing influences inter-ethnic dynamics during the course of a self-determination movement in a multi-ethnic setting. While mobilization centered on ethnicity tend to exclude minorities from the national community, by contrast movements employing economic or pro-democracy arguments tend to express claims with reference to a territorial unit not to an ethnic group. Thus they are less likely to alienate minorities than so called “primordialist nationalist” arguments referring to ethnic identity. Consequently, it can be argued that a relevant aspect distinguishing mobilization discourses from each other is whether they define collective identity in ethnically inclusive or exclusive way. By studying the Slovenian, the Croatian and the Montenegrin independence movement, the goal of this study is to explain how and why certain discourses come to dominate some independence movements and not others. Thus the present dissertation aims to shed light on the dynamics of secessionist framing, that is how politicians interpret events and present arguments with the intention to mobilize their constituencies for independence. |
| Supervisor | Jenne, Erin K. |
| Department | International Relations PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2010/iphhub01.pdf |
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