Theses defended
Identity, Self-determination and International Relations: The Case of Western Sahara.
October 29, 2012
International Politics and Conflict Resolution
José Manuel Pureza
This thesis aims to demonstrate that self-determination constitutes the selves by which it is claimed. This hypothesis is developed within the discipline of International Relations (IR) constructivism, and is empirically illustrated here with an analysis of the case of Western Sahara.
Self-determination will be understood to refer to the idea that people have a right to freedom, and at the same time will be seen as a specific way of bounding political communities. A literature review will identify the main tensions and contradictions within this concept in the context of the international system. There will also be an analysis of the main contemporary political and judicial trends related to its interpretation.
After this the thesis will consider specific theoretical IR issues, with a particular focus on the role of norms in the connections between actor and system and identity construction. It is proposed that the more conventional question about what and who constitutes a people - which is central to self-determination literature and refers also to literature about nationalism and national identity - can be reformulated as a question about the emergence, constitution and recognition of a corporate identity that represents a collective identity and that assumes an actor's status within the international system. A fundamental assumption of all this is that actor and system are mutually constituted. From this perspective, it can be understood that selves are reflexively constructed with reference to a system's institutions and norms.
This conceptualization is applied here to the case of Western Sahara through an analysis of how the Sahrawi people have been constructing their project of political independence. The thesis shows how that project is informed both by the general idea of self-determination and by the more specific norms that are usually related to it.
The case study begins with an examination of the conflict over the sovereignty of the territory of Western Sahara, so that the importance that questions of identity to be considered in making sense of this conflict can be identified. After a qualitative analysis of primary and secondary sources, there is then an attempt to interpret what self-determination means in the context of the Sahrawi identity that aspires to political independence. An analysis follows of its normative effects in the construction of a corporate Sahrawi identity in terms of political institutions, territorial and population bounding. The implications of all this, with regard to concerns about conflict resolution, will be considered. In this context there will be some criticism of the prevailing realist perspective, which has generally assumed a ontology of institutional actors and has tended to neglect questions of norms and identities.
The empirical case examined here demonstrates the pertinence of the theoretical argument, and also shows that only when questions of identity and international norms are taken into consideration - in this case the question of how the projected Sahrawi self incorporates the idea and the norm of self-determination - can one understand the resilience of the Sahrawi political independence project and the complexity of the current conflict.
Public Defence date
Doctoral Programme
Supervision
Abstract
Self-determination will be understood to refer to the idea that people have a right to freedom, and at the same time will be seen as a specific way of bounding political communities. A literature review will identify the main tensions and contradictions within this concept in the context of the international system. There will also be an analysis of the main contemporary political and judicial trends related to its interpretation.
After this the thesis will consider specific theoretical IR issues, with a particular focus on the role of norms in the connections between actor and system and identity construction. It is proposed that the more conventional question about what and who constitutes a people - which is central to self-determination literature and refers also to literature about nationalism and national identity - can be reformulated as a question about the emergence, constitution and recognition of a corporate identity that represents a collective identity and that assumes an actor's status within the international system. A fundamental assumption of all this is that actor and system are mutually constituted. From this perspective, it can be understood that selves are reflexively constructed with reference to a system's institutions and norms.
This conceptualization is applied here to the case of Western Sahara through an analysis of how the Sahrawi people have been constructing their project of political independence. The thesis shows how that project is informed both by the general idea of self-determination and by the more specific norms that are usually related to it.
The case study begins with an examination of the conflict over the sovereignty of the territory of Western Sahara, so that the importance that questions of identity to be considered in making sense of this conflict can be identified. After a qualitative analysis of primary and secondary sources, there is then an attempt to interpret what self-determination means in the context of the Sahrawi identity that aspires to political independence. An analysis follows of its normative effects in the construction of a corporate Sahrawi identity in terms of political institutions, territorial and population bounding. The implications of all this, with regard to concerns about conflict resolution, will be considered. In this context there will be some criticism of the prevailing realist perspective, which has generally assumed a ontology of institutional actors and has tended to neglect questions of norms and identities.
The empirical case examined here demonstrates the pertinence of the theoretical argument, and also shows that only when questions of identity and international norms are taken into consideration - in this case the question of how the projected Sahrawi self incorporates the idea and the norm of self-determination - can one understand the resilience of the Sahrawi political independence project and the complexity of the current conflict.