This research project will examine groups or regions that aim to become independent nations but aren't officially recognized as such. Instead of focusing on whether these groups should be considered states, the researchers will look at how they act like states, who their actions are aimed at, and how others perceive them.
“The project will investigate how these aspiring sovereign entities assert themselves both inside and outside the existing democratic system,” explains Bart Klem, a senior lecturer in Peace and Development Research at the School of Global Studies and the project leader.
“Specifically, we’ll study the strategies used by independence movements. The goal is to better understand the contradictory nature of separatist politics—it operates within the rules of democracy while also challenging and disrupting those very rules.”
Three case studies in focus
The project centres on three highly rich and highly diverse case studies: the Catalonian independence movement, the Rojava autonomous administration in Syria and the Tamil nationalist movement in Sri Lanka.
“I became interested in the Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka many years back. As I was doing field research, I ran into fascinating forms of politics. Electoral boycotts, where parties do politics by not participating. Parties that approach a parliamentary election as if it were an independence referendum, where they signal that if you vote for them, you express your desire for a separate state. The creation of de facto institutions, which do not have a formal mandate, but become very politically potent,” says Bart Klem.
He realized he did not have the conceptual tools to grapple with these transgressive strategies. When talking with colleagues it became clear that these groups existed across the globe and that they had historical precedents that go a long way back.
Gap in research
“There was stuff from national liberation movements in the late colonial era. I became aware of Sinn Fein running for parliament in Westminster, but never occupying the seats. Then there was the independence referendum in Catalonia that was declared illegal,” says Bart Klem.
“There was no systematic overview of these political groups that I could find, not much theoretical reflection and no consolidated methodological approach. So, then I thought, ok, let’s just start compiling ideas and examples myself. That is what led to this proposal.”
The project, which is titled Sovereign Performance: The politics of aspiring sovereignty: Understanding separatist politics from a performative perspective will involve five postdocs in addition to Bart Klem. The project will run for five years.
“I think the research will be super-exciting,” says Bart Klem. “Last fall, I went to Sri Lanka to present my recent book, which has some incipient ideas in it that we develop further in this project. To my delight, there was not just academic interest in these ideas, but also real uptake in relation to the country’s present political transition.”
“My hope is that the post-doctoral researchers that will come aboard will push the project further. There is much more to explore here. Beyond the three main case countries, I think the project will lay the ground for much broader research efforts. After all aesthetic and performative politics is not only relevant to the context of separatism. It could inform work on populism or other political streams.”
