Regional Autonomy, Cultural Diversity and Differentiated Territorial Government assesses the current state of the international theory and practice of autonomy in order to pursue the possibility of regional self-government in Tibet. Initiated by a workshop and roundtable with political representatives from different autonomous regions, including His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, this book brings together a group of distinguished international scholars to offer a much-needed enquiry into solutions to the Tibetan quest for ‘genuine’ autonomy. Examining the Chinese framework of regional self-government, along with key international cases of autonomy in Europe, North America and Asia, the contributors to this volume offer a comprehensive context for the consideration of both Tibetan demands and Chinese worries. Their insights will be invaluable to academics, practitioners, diplomats, civil servants, government representatives, international organisations and NGOs interested in the theory and practice of autonomy, as well as those concerned with the future of Tibet.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Notes on contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: Neither Panacea, nor Pandora's Box: Comparing autonomy with a view on Tibet and China -- PART I Differentiated territorial government in China: Potential for Tibet? -- 1 Foreign influence and constitutionalism in the PRC: A Western perspective on change and uncertainty in contemporary Chinese legal culture -- 2 The rule of law in China: Fundamental uncertainties about 'decoding' a fundamental concept -- 3 Dilemmas of 'genuine autonomy' for Tibet -- 4 Chinese policies on regional self-government: The case of Tibet -- 5 The Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People: An explanatory introduction to the Tibetan proposal -- PART II Practice of regional autonomy: Experiences compared -- 6 From compromise to compact? Working autonomy in South Tyrol -- 7 Asymmetric regionalism in Spain: Catalonia and the Basque Country -- 8 Devolution and devolution plus: Anti-foundationalist foundations for constitutionalism -- 9 Can Quebec's relative autonomy within Canada be a template for Tibet? -- 10 The autonomy of Aceh -- 11 Sometimes guns are the answer: The path to autonomy in Tibet, Burma and South Sudan -- 12 Territorial autonomy in India -- 13 Is Malaysian federalism a good example or a warning for solving the China/Tibet issue? A brief inquiry into a half-century experiment in asymmetric federalism -- Concluding observations: One country, three systems: The Tibetan quest for genuine autonomy between European experiences and Asian perspectives -- Appendix: The 17-Point Agreement -- Index

An unclouded look at territorial autonomy back and forward, 100 years after the establishment of the first "modern" territorial autonomy in a democratic state: the Åland Islands in Finland in 1921/22. Where has autonomy been successful to ensure minority protection and self-government, where has it failed, where is it in crisis, where is it aspired to? In which cases would autonomy settle open conflicts between states and regional communities, and in which cases of national emancipation is autonomy no longer sufficient? In 2021, after 100 years of experience with territorial autonomy in all parts of the world, this concept for solving sub-state conflicts is still underestimated. Background information and assessments on the development to date and on the perspectives for the application of territorial autonomy in various regions worldwide by the author of "The World's Modern Autonomy Systems", conversations with ten outstanding personalities from politics and science in these regions and a foreword by the South Tyrolean politician and scientist Oskar Peterlini, former senator in Rome. Thomas Benedikter is an economist and political scientist, publicist, working for South Tyrol's Center for Political Studies and Civic Education POLITiS.

The strength of secessionism in liberal-democracies varies in time and space. Inspired by historical institutionalism, Nationalism, Secessionism, and Autonomy argues that such variation is explained by the extent to which autonomy evolves in time. If autonomy adjusts to the changing identity, interests, and circumstances of an internal national community, nationalism is much less likely to be strongly secessionist than if autonomy is a final, unchangeable settlement. Developing a controlled comparison of, on the one hand, Catalonia and Scotland, where autonomy has been mostly static during key periods of time, and, on the other hand, Flanders and South Tyrol, where it has been dynamic, and also considering the Basque Country, Québec, and Puerto Rico as additional cases, this book puts forward an elegant theory of secessionism in liberal-democracies: dynamic autonomy staves off secessionism while static autonomy stimulates it.

Defensive Federalism presents an original contribution to the field of federalism and multinational democracies, exploring the concept of defensive federalism as a protection of self- government against the "tyranny of the majority". The empirical evidence on federal and regional polities often shows critical imbalances in the territorial division of powers beyond what has been formally established in the constitutional rules. This volume highlights the rights, institutions, decision- making processes and procedural rules that can protect and develop the practical political, economic and cultural powers of federated and regional entities, especially those linked to territorial national minorities. The authors focus on federalism as a safeguard of self- rule, as well as a set of institutional and procedural rules to avoid the territorial dimension of the "tyranny of the majority". They answer two fundamental questions: how is it possible to design new stable and fairer federal agreements between national minorities and majorities where there is no single ideal solution? Is there a need for a new kind of "defensive federal model" for approaching national pluralism in liberal democracies? This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of federalism, national diversity and democracy, as well as policymakers and practitioners in both public and private institutions. Chapter 8 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com

This book examines global environmental governance and how legal, institutional, and conceptual reform can facilitate a transformation to a new ‘natural-systems’ form of agriculture. Profound global climate disruption makes it essential that we replace our current agricultural system – described in this book as a fossil-carbon-dependent ‘modern extractive agriculture’ – with a natural-systems agriculture featuring perennial grains growing in polycultures, thereby mimicking the natural grassland and forest ecosystems that modern extractive agriculture has largely destroyed. After examining relevant international legal and conceptual foundations (sovereignty, federalism, global governance) and existing international organizations focusing on agriculture, the book explores legal and institutional opportunities to facilitate dramatic agricultural reform and ecological restoration. Among other things, it explains how innovative federalism structures around the world provide patterns for reorienting global environmental governance, including what the book calls eco-states that would, through exercise of pluralistic sovereignty, be responsible for agroecological management. Drawing from his experience working in international institutions, the author provides detailed global-governance proposals for facilitating the type of agricultural reform that can help avoid ecological collapse, especially through soil degradation and climate change. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international law, agroecology, climate change, ecological restoration, sustainable development, and global governance, as well as policy-makers and practitioners working in these fields.